Eye on China (Live Mint)

Mains Paper 3 : Defense and Security
Prelims level : IndSpaceEx
Mains level : Importance of the IndSpaceEx mission

Context

• The Indian armed forces are all set to conduct the country’s first-ever simulated space warfare exercise “IndSpaceEx” this week.

About IndSpaceEx

• The tri-Service integrated defence staff under the defence ministry is conducting the two-day “IndSpaceEx”, with all military and scientific stakeholders.
• Aim: to assess the requisite space and counter-space capabilities that are needed by India to ensure we can protect our national security interests in this final frontier of warfare.
• Such an exercise was being planned after India successfully tested an anti-satellite (A-Sat) interceptor missile to destroy the 740-kg Microsat-R satellite, at an altitude of 283-km in the low earth orbit, in a “hit-to-kill mode”.
• The exercise will help Indian armed forces in testing the cosmic war zone and see how the A-Sat capabilities can be used to defend the Indian skies.
• The exercise comes at a time when India’s neighbour China is aggressively growing in this field.
• Shortly after ‘Mission Shakti’, Beijing had launched several missiles from a ship to demonstrate its A-Sat capabilities.

In response to China

• China has been developing an array of A-Sat weapons, both kinetic in the shape of co-orbital killer satellites and direct ascent missiles as well as non-kinetic ones like lasers and electro-magnetic pulse weapons.
• Though India for long has had an expansive civilian space programme, it largely restricted military use of space to intelligence, reconnaissance, surveillance, communication and navigation.
• It will lead to an assessment of the “imminent threats” in the expanse beyond earth and the drafting of a joint space doctrine for futuristic battles.
• The A-Sat test and the approval for the tri-Service Defence Space Agency signifies the crossing of that self-imposed threshold for developing offensive space capabilities.
• India has no option but to develop deterrence capabilities to ensure no adversary can threaten its assets in outer-space.

Why such exercise is important?

• Not only can an adversary’s counter-space weapons take out India’s assets critical for its economic and social infrastructure, they can also “blind and deafen” the Indian armed forces.
• They could do so by destroying or jamming satellites vital for surveillance, communication, and precision-targeting.

Way Forward

• To having demonstrated its ASAT capability, India is in an ideal place to demonstrate its global governance credentials.
• The efforts like the IndSpaceEx are important to determine the degree of the space security challenges India faces and to develop appropriate measures for effective deterrence.
• But India must step up its efforts to develop global rules and norms about such challenges and threats.
• India must continue working towards all-encompassing legally-binding instruments such as the Prevention of Arms Race in Outer Space (PAROS).

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Virtual Currencies, consider the following statements:
1. The Group has highlighted the positive aspect of distributed-ledger technology (DLT) and suggested various applications, especially in financial services, for use of DLT in India.
2. It recommends the use of private cryptocurrencies in India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both
D. None

Answer: A
Mains Questions:
Q.1) What is the IndSpaceEx mission? Why such exercise is important?