Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address to the nation today said India has shot down a low earth orbit satellite with an anti-satellite missile or A-SAT.
PM Modi - asserting that the action is not directed against any country - said that with Mission Shakti's success, India has become the fourth country to have tested such an anti-satellite weapon after the US, Russia and China. The A-SAT missile shot down the Low Earth Orbit satellite within "three minutes of launch", with remarkable precision and technical capability, PM Modi said.
"This is a big moment for India. Something that all of us should be proud of. We are not just capable to defend on land, water and air, but now also in space. I congratulate all scientists who have made this possible and made India a much stronger nation," PM Modi said in a televised address.
The opposition said it was the UPA government that started the ASAT programme, which finally gave results now. "The UPA government had initiated the ASAT program which has reached fruition today. I congratulate our space scientists and the visionary leadership of Dr Manmohan Singh," Congress parliamentarian Ahmed Patel tweeted.