Statement by Ms. Rachita Bhandari, Counsellor (Disarmament), PMI to CD on India's ASAT test of March 27, 2019 at the informal meeting of the Working Group II on TCBMs in Outer Space during the 2019 Session of the UN Disarmament Commission in New York on April 22, 2019

Mr. Chairman,

On behalf of the delegation of India, I thank the distinguished Ambassador of Brazil, the Chair of the GGE on PAROS, for his informative and useful briefing on the recent discussions in the GGE. I also thank Mr Daniel Porras from UNIDIR for his presentation.

Since there was a reference to India’s recent Anti-Satellite Test by Mr Porras in his presentation, I would like to put on record the official position of the Government of India in this regard.

India’s Anti-Satellite Test of March 27, 2019 was a demonstration of our technological capabilities to defend and secure our wide-ranging interests in outer space.  The test was purely defensive in character and not targeted against any country. 

As mentioned in our statement during the General Exchange, Mr. Chairman, India remains opposed to the weaponisation of outer space. India has not, and will not, resort to an arms race in outer space. 

As a major space faring nation, India has made significant strides in developing a range of outer space technologies that also benefit other countries, especially fellow developing countries.  India has sizeable space assets which provide the critical backbone for the country’s economic and social infrastructure; it is important therefore for us to have proven capabilities to safeguard such assets.

In so far as concerns regarding space debris generated by this test are concerned, it may be noted that India, conscious of such concerns and the dangers posed by space debris, conducted the test in a manner to minimize the incidence and longevity of space debris. After having conducted extensive simulations, the test was intentionally conducted in the Low Earth Orbit at an altitude of 280 km to ensure that there would be minimal space debris and that it would not pose any danger to objects in outer space. As per the simulation studies, whatever debris would have been generated was expected to have decayed and fallen back to earth within a brief timeframe. Further, there has so far been no specific concern in relation to the International Space Station which is at an altitude much higher than that at which the test was conducted.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.