‘It is a matter of pride for the entire country,’ says Maneka Gandhi on the success of ‘Mission Shakti’

Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has hailed the tremendous success of ‘Mission Shakti’ and congratulated the scientists behind it after India downed a live Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite with an A-SAT (anti-satellite) weapon earlier on Wednesday.  A giant leap in terms of our national security, India has now entered the elite space power club which includes, US, Russia, and China.

Here is what Maneka Gandhi said:

"Today India became the fourth country to successfully test an anti-satellite missile. Earlier, only Russia, the US and had this capability. This is a matter of pride for all Indians. I congratulate all scientists for this accomplishment."

Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stirred speculations throughout the country as he said that he had an ‘important message’ to deliver.

This message turned out to be the completion and success of ‘Mission Shakti’ wherein a DRDO missile successfully hit a live low-orbit satellite on Wednesday. The mission was completed in just 3 minutes.

 He tweeted:

Anti-Satellite systems have not yet been used for warfare, however, countries have used it before to prove or demonstrate their technological prowess or deterrence capabilities.

While making the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed how India has always maintained that space should not be militarised and reaffirmed that the A-SAT missile was not directed against any nation.‘The ASAT missile will give new strength to India’s space programme. I assure the international community that our capability won’t be used against anyone but is purely India’s defence initiative for its security,” he said.