India has said outer space should remain a realm for cooperation, not conflict, calling for a legally binding international instrument to prevent an arms race in space.
"India is a major space-faring nation. Our space programme has both developmental and security dimensions," Member of Parliament Sudha Murty said here on Tuesday, while delivering India's statement on outer space at the UN General Assembly First Committee.
“India believes that outer space belongs to all of us. We are one Earth, one family with one future. It is our view that outer space should remain a realm for cooperation, not conflict,” she said.
Noting the emergence of new actors in the outer space domain, Murty said dual-use space technologies and assets had become a reality.
"A difference of opinion continues on approaches to preventing an arms race in outer space and on which approach should take priority,” she said.
India reiterated its preferences for a legally binding instrument on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS) that is universally acceptable, verifiable and negotiated multilaterally at the Conference on Disarmament.
She also highlighted India's space achievements and future ambitions, noting that the country had landed a spacecraft on the Moon in 2023 and was preparing for its human spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan.
India also plans to build a national space station, the Bharatiya Antariksha Station.
New Delhi has been consistently calling for strengthening the international legal regime governing outer space to preserve access for all countries and prevent an arms race, while emphasising the need to address the risks posed by the growing use of space technologies.
In September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a safe, secure, peaceful and sustainable space domain anchored in international law, dialogue and multilateral cooperation. – PTI
