Mr. President,

I would like to thank you for organizing today’s thematic discussion on the importance of PAROS, a core issue on the agenda of the Conference on Disarmament.  I would also like to express our appreciation for the excellent presentations made by the distinguished panelists today and thank them. 

2.       India aligns itself with the statement delivered by the Group of 21 on PAROS earlier today. 

3.       Since there was a reference made to India’s recent Anti-Satellite Test, I would like to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

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

5.       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 development as well as security; it is important therefore for us to take measures to safeguard our assets.

6.       India remains opposed to the weaponisation of outer space. India has not, and will not, resort to any arms race in outer space. India has been a consistent advocate of preserving the outer space as a common heritage of humankind. We remain committed to maintaining outer space as an ever-expanding frontier for cooperative endeavours of all space faring nations.

7.       As regards the concerns related to the space debris generated by this test, 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 a 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 weeks. In our assessment most of the debris have decayed and whatever pieces remain will be decaying in a short period of time.

8.       India continues to support substantive consideration of the prevention of an arms race in outer space within the multilateral framework of the UN. We remain committed to negotiation of a legally-binding instrument on the prevention of an arms race in outer space to be negotiated in the Conference on Disarmament, where it has been on the agenda since 1982. India has been an active participant in the Group of Governmental Experts on the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space which concluded its session in March 2019 under the able leadership of Ambassador Patriota. We also participated in deliberation on TCBMs held recently in informal meeting of the UNDC last month. At the 73rd session of the First Committee last year, India voted in favour of all resolutions submitted under the Outer Space cluster, including on the Prevention of an arms race in outer space (which we also co-sponsored), on Further practical measures for the prevention of an arms race in outer space, on No first placement of weapons in outer space as well as on Transparency and confidence-building measures in outer space activities.

9.       India remains committed to playing a leading and constructive role together with other partners, in deliberations and negotiations on prevention of an arms race in outer space, including legally binding measures, TCBMs and long-term sustainability guidelines.

Thank you, Mr. President.