Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space — Remarks by Ambassador Hamid Ali Rao of India at the Plenary of the Conference on Disarmament, Geneva, 8 February 2011

Mr. President, Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space or PAROS has been on the Agenda of CD since 1982 and India has consistently supported addressing the issue of PAROS in the CD. The importance of doing so has been reinforced by the recent dramatic increase in the peaceful uses of outer space as well as international cooperation in outer space. I need not belabor how the use of outer space based assets has revolutionized broadcasting, telecommunications and weather forecasting for the benefit of all. Outer Space is indeed a new frontier for both developing and developed nations.

The Indian space programme has always integrated advances in space technology and applications with national development goals. Recently, ANTRIX Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was conferred the Globe Sustainability Research Award 2010 for demonstrating the use of space technology and IT at the grass root level through a watershed development programme. The workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in its sixteenth successive successful flight in July 2010 placed CARTOSAT 2B and four auxiliary satellites including one from Algeria and two from Canada into their respective orbits. With the launch of the Chandrayaan-1, the Indian space programme has entered the space exploration phase. Chandrayaan-1 with many international payloads including from the US was instrumental in establishing the presence of water and hydroxyl molecules on the lunar surface. A follow-on lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 will be developed in collaboration with Russia. This illustrates the importance we have placed on international cooperation in space activities including cooperative approaches to scientific challenges, international frameworks for utilisation of outer space for peaceful purposes and sharing expertise and services especially with other developing countries for capacity building.

Any survey of current activities in outer space would illustrate the breadth and pace with which outer space is becoming an essential element of national and international endeavours. As this global common gets more crowded, and as technology develops rapidly it becomes natural to ask if the present international legal framework on outer spaces devised at the dawn of the space age more than three decades ago is up to the challenge today and into the future.

Mr. President, India has been against weaponisation of outer space, a common heritage of mankind. We believe that it is imperative to preserve and promote the benefits flowing from advances made in space technology and its applications. Achieving this objective will require a step-by-step process wherein legal measures are complimented with transparency and confidence building measures and arrangements that are non-discriminatory and have broad international acceptability. Given the global dimension of space activity, ad hoc and partial arrangements can not be the way forward. Outer Space should not become an arena of competitive policies but a new and expanding frontier of cooperative activity. This places a responsibility on space faring nations to contribute to international efforts to advance the step by step process for achieving legally binding measures complemented by TCBMs.

Mr. President we support international efforts to reinforce safety and security of space based assets and to prevent the placement of weapons in outer space. While non-discriminatory and universally acceptable TCBMs can be useful complementary measures, our objective should be the negotiation of legally binding instruments that enhance security in space and for all space users. Here in the CD, our first priority is to agree on a programme of work that allows us to commence substantive work, including negotiations inter alia on PAROS. Once that happens there are a number of proposals, including for a draft treaty, which can be considered further.

I thank you, Mr. President.