Pakistan RATTLED after India's 'Mission Shakti' gamechanger, appeals for addressal of 'gaps in space laws'

Hours after India announced that it has accomplished a tremendous space feat by successfully testing an anti-Satellite weapon (A-SAT) in 'Mission Shakti', Pakistan has given away just how rattled it is by launching an unguided appeal seeking a change in international space laws.

The Pakistan foreign office has said that there is a need to address gaps in the international space laws with a view to ensuring that nobody threatens peaceful activities, and applications of space technologies for socio-economic development.

Pakistan's spooked response to India's 'Mission Shakti' is along similar lines to how it had reacted in November when India had completed its nuclear triad. Then, just like now, the Pak MoFA had claimed that the development was a concern for the international community. 

The rattled nature of Pakistan's response was precipitated from within in both cases, however, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India's capability was only an initiative for its own security and not to be used against anyone, and also reiterated India's stance against arms raised in space.

Pakistan's response also smacks of hypocrisy as India has now joined an elite group of countries that includes two Cold War powers, the US and Russia, and also China, which is Pakistan's 'all-weather friend' and performed its own A-SAT test as recently as 2007.

China's own reaction to India's 'Mission Shakti' was a guarded one, expressing simply that peace and tranquility should be upheld in outer space:

"We have noticed reports and hope that each country will uphold peace and tranquillity in outer space", the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, as per PTI.

India's test entailed an A-SAT missile successfully targeting a pre-determined satellite that was orbiting at 300km (a Low-Earth Orbit). The mission took only 3 minutes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.