Pakistan concerned over India's advances in 'outer space militarization

Pakistan said on Wednesday that it was against the militarization of outer space, hours after India's announcement of shooting down a live satellite with a missile - a rare achievement that puts the country in an exclusive club of space superpowers. "Space is the common heritage of mankind and every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the militarization of this arena," Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said in a statement.

He said Pakistan was a "strong proponent of the United Nations resolution on Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space". "Boasting of such capabilities (to destroy satellite) is reminiscent of Don Quixote's tilting against windmills," he said, referring to India's test.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier announced that India successfully test-fired an anti-satellite missile by shooting down a live satellite. The test makes India the fourth country in the world after the US, Russia and China to acquire the strategic capability to shoot down enemy satellites.

"We hope that countries which have in the past strongly condemned demonstration of similar capabilities by others will be prepared to work towards developing international instruments to prevent military threats relating to outer space," Faisal said, without naming any country.

In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that India has no intention of entering into an arms race in outer space.