美国有线新闻 CNN 印度击毁近地卫星 莫迪宣称印跻身太空强国（在线收听）

AZUZ: The leader of India says his country is now a space superpower. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that a missile fired from the ground had successfully destroyed one of India's own satellites in low orbit. He made that announcement yesterday.

This is significant because until now, only three other countries have done this — the United States, Russia and China.

Prime Minister Modi called the exercise a historic feat and said having that capability to shoot down satellites would make India stronger. But his political opponents criticized as a publicity stunt with India's elections scheduled to begin on April 11th. Prime Minister Modi also said the missile operation was carried out only for India's defense and security.

But Pakistan, which is a both a neighbor and a rival of India, said that every country should avoid actions that could lead to the militarization of space.

India's space program has been steadily growing in recent years. It put a satellite into orbit around Mars in 2014. And India hopes to have a manned mission to space within the next three years.