India has executed the "Shakti mission" and has proclaimed "superpower of space" after the demolition of a satellite

The armed forces of India overturned a low-orbiting satellite with a ballistic missile during an exerciseannounced on Wednesday Prime Minister Narendra Modi, making the country the fourth to achieve this technological feat in the world after the United States, China and Russia.

"Our scientists overturned a satellite in low orbit at a distance of 300 km altitudesaid the nationalist leader during an outstanding televised speech at two weeks before the start of parliamentary elections in the South Asian giant, according to the agency AFP.

"Our goal is to establish peace and not to create an atmosphere of war, it is not against any country"Modi added that a few weeks after a serious crisis in Pakistan in Kashmir with Pakistan, she had shot down an Indian hunter Mig-21, who had put both countries on the path of war before tensions finally disappear. "This has been done to ensure India and its rapid growth," he said.

"It's a moment of pride for India," said the Prime Minister in this intervention announced at the last moment and on which nothing had been disclosed, estimating that his country of 1,250 million inhabitants "has inscribed his name in the list of superpowers of space".

The operation, christened "Shakti Mission "(" strength "in Hindi)It lasted three minutes. "The satellite was a pre-established target and was shot down by an anti-satellite missile"Said Modi.

This anti-satellite technology has the disadvantage of projecting thousands of fragments at high speed over the Earth's orbit, which constitutes a danger for other objects of space, say the experts.

China carried out a similar demolition for the first time in 2007, sparking many critics within the international community on the perception of the militarization of space, including those formulated by India, as recalled by the agency EFE.

The United States and Russia, in turn, realized this technology in 1985 and in the latest line of aerospace competition unleashed by the Cold War, although they are currently moving away from the anti-satellite missile method to focus instead on the use of a laser, which allows to decommission the instruments of a satellite by "glare" without affecting their physical integrity.

In a statement sent by the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shortly after Modi's speech, it was pointed out that the country "did not intend to embark on an arms race in the country." outer space ". "We have always maintained that space should only be used for peaceful purposes", said the text.

But the race, apparently, would already be underway and more and more countries are looking to launch their own satellites, fundamental for intelligence work and for global communication, and develop the means of destroying those who belong to their adversaries.

Russia and China proposed in 2014 a treaty on the prohibition of weapons in space, which was rejected by the United States. argued that the lack of verification mechanisms for the existence of these weapons in different countries made such an agreement "fundamentally flawed".

The announcement of the Indian government comes when Modi aspires to get a second five-year term in elections starting April 11, for which 900 million voters are summoned to the polls. The results will be announced on May 23rd. and there is no certaintyat.

This campaign environment seems to have mobilized the Indian Nationalist People's Party of the Prime Minister on several frontsAnd since February 14, tensions with neighboring Pakistan, with which India has waged four wars, have exploded.

That day a Suicide bombing by Pakistan-linked terrorist group kills 42 in Kashmirwho claim New Delhi and Islamabad. Ten days later the Indian Air Force bombed an alleged camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed organization on the other side of the border, which motivated a response from Pakistani aviation.

An Indian Mig-21 was shot down and his pilot captured, while on the ground many clashes took place in the so-called Kashmir border control line, At least four Pakistanis have died in the most tense conflict between the two nuclear powers since the Kargil war in 1999.

March 1st Islamabad repatriated the captured Indian pilot and tensions seemed to fade, although the situation is far from resolved and the evidence of new Indian anti-satellite missile can also stir up the flames of historical conflict, whereas Pakistan has numerous communications, observation and climatological monitoring satellites.