India says it successfully test-fires anti-satellite weapon

India on Wednesday destroyed a low-orbiting satellite in a missile test that makes the country a space superpower, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

India became the fourth country after the United States, Russia and China to have carried out the feat.

In a rare televised address, just weeks before the nation goes to the polls, Modi said Indian scientists "shot down a live satellite at a low-earth orbit".

"This is a proud moment for India," the prime minister said, in his first televised national address since late 2016.

"India has registered its name in the list of space superpowers. Until now, only three countries had achieved this feat."

The satellite was in orbit at 300 kilometres (185 miles) when it was destroyed.

Modi said the mission was peaceful and not designed to create "an atmosphere of war", adding it was "not directed against any country".

"I want to assure the world community that the new capability is not against anyone. This is to secure and defend the fast-growing India."

The announcement comes ahead of a national election in which Modi is seeking a second term in office.

It comes a month after Indian and Pakistani fighter jets engaged in a dogfight over the disputed border in Kashmir, in a serious military escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals.

An Indian jet was shot down and a pilot captured by Pakistan, which had launched retaliatory air raids after Indian planes dropped bombs onPakistani territory for the first time in decades.

Voting starts April 11 and will last nearly six weeks, with close to 900 million Indians eligible to vote in the world's largest election.

The United States and former Soviet Union carried out their first successful anti-satellite missile tests in 1985, and China in 2007.

All are now said to be working on so-called Star Wars laser arms to destroy satellites.

With satellites increasingly important because of their intelligence gathe ring role - and major nations seeking to gain a foothold in space - the United States in 2014 rejected a Russian-Chinese proposal for a treaty to ban weapons in space, saying it was "fundamentally flawed" because of the lack of weapons verification measures.

In a statement released after Modi's announcement, the foreign ministry said India "has no intention of entering into an arms race in outer space".

"We have always maintained that space must be used only for peaceful purposes," the ministry said.

Modi said the test did not violate any international treaties and was for the betterment and safety of India's 1.3 billion people.