Islamabad, Mar 27 (IANS): As India successfully test fired its anti-satellite missile A-SAT, Pakistan on Wednesday said militarisation of space should be avoided.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mohammad Faisal told the media: "Pakistan has been a strong proponent of prevention of arms race in outer space."

"Space is the common heritage of mankind and every nation has the responsibility to avoid actions which can lead to the militarisation of this arena."

He stressed the "need to address gaps in the international space laws" to ensure no one threatens peaceful activities and applications of space technologies for socio-economic development.

"We hope that countries which have in the past strongly condemned demonstration of similar capabilities by others will be prepared to work towards developing international instruments to prevent military threats relating to outer space," he said, after India's A-SAT successfully targeted a live satellite on low earth orbit.