Pakistan condemns Indian test as militarization of space

Pakistan on Wednesday accused India of destroying a satellite to demonstrate its growing strategic military power.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry stressed that Pakistan was against weaponizing what he called the common heritage of mankind and that every country had the responsibility to avoid actions that could lead to the militarization of space, reports Efe news.

"Pakistan has been a strong proponent of preventing an arms race in outer space," the spokesperson said.

"We believe that there is a need to address gaps in the international space laws with a view to ensuring that no one threatens peaceful activities and applications of space technologies for socio-economic development," he added.

Without naming India, the spokesperson said that boasting of such capabilities was "reminiscent of Don Quixote's tilting against windmills," a reference to the iconic protagonist of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes' 17th century masterpiece.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that India had successfully tested a space missile system by striking a Low Earth Orbit satellite, an act that he said propelled India as a space power.

Modi said that with the successful test, India had become the fourth space power with such capability after the US, Russia and China.

--IANS

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