India to form aerospace defence command

India will form an "aerospace defence" command to protect against attacks from outer space, officials said Sunday.

The announcement comes three days after India called for a "weapons free outer space" in response to China's test of an anti-satellite weapon.

Indian Air Force (IAF) commander Shashi Tyagi said military was in the process of building an aerospace program but gave no timetable for its progress.

"We will take help of ISRO (Indian Space Research organisation) for the aerospace command but it will have distinct features as it is a military command," he said.


Indian airforce chief Shashi Tyagi speaks at a press conference in Gandhinagar. Tyagi said the military was in the process of establishing an aerospace defence command "to exploit outer space," the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported. AFP/File/Sam Panthaky photo via Yahoo News.