PM Modi says India now a “space power”

India on Wednesday successfully tested a state-of-the-art missile technology by shooting down a satellite parked at low earth orbit, which is 300 kilometres from the earth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a televised address to the nation.

He said India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia, and China.

“India has made an unprecedented achievement today,” Modi said, speaking in Hindi.

He said that the defence and space scientists used an anti-satellite missile (ASM) to destroy a mini-satellite in space. He said India is now a space power.

He added that it would "make India stronger, even more, secure and will further peace and harmony".

In his address to the nation, Modi congratulated space and defence scientists and said it was a demonstration of capability, space power, self-defence, and peace. He said that India has completed ‘Operation Shakti’. All equipment used in the operation was developed indigenously and the entire operation was executed in just three minutes.

“We aim for peace and not war,” Modi said while adding that it is an important step towards securing India's safety, economic growth and technological advancement. He assured the international community that this experiment was not against any country in particular. Also, it is not against any international convention or treaty. Such a mission will help in achieving security milestones for the country, he added.

Interestingly in May 1998, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced that India has emerged as Nuclear power after a series of nuclear explosions were conducted in Pokhran. That operation was also called Shakthi.

While Indian defence scientists have established capability in launching Agni V, the intercontinental ballistic missile as well as an anti-missile defence shield, where it has shown its ability to, shoot down incoming missiles.

Modi faces a general election next month.