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India tests
nuclear-capable missile able to hit China
AP and AFP, NEW DELHI and BEIJING
A handout photograph released by
the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) shows a
surface-to-surface Agni-V missile being launched from the Wheeler Island off the
Eastern State of Odisha, India, yesterday
Photo: EPA
India yesterday announced the successful
test launch of a new nuclear-capable missile that would give it the ability to
strike the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai, a significant step
forward in its aspirations to become a regional and world power.
The Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000km, still requires a battery of tests
and must clear other bureaucratic hurdles before it can be inducted into India¡¦s
arsenal in a few years. However, officials hailed the launch as proof that India
has taken its place among the world¡¦s most powerful and scientifically advanced
nations.
¡§The nation stands tall today,¡¨ Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony said,
according to the Press Trust of India.
China is far ahead of India in the missile race, with intercontinental ballistic
missiles capable of reaching anywhere in India. Currently, the longest-range
Indian missile, the Agni-III, has a range of 3,500km, which falls short of many
major Chinese cities.
¡§At the moment there is a huge assymetry in China¡¦s favor,¡¨ said C. Uday Bhaskar,
former head of the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses.
After it adds the missile to its arsenal, however, ¡§India¡¦s deterrent profile in
the region would be appropriately burnished,¡¨ he said.
Video released by the government showed the Agni-V taking off from a small
launcher on what appeared to be railroad tracks at 8:07am from Wheeler Island
off India¡¦s east coast. It rose on a pillar of flame, trailing billows of smoke
behind, before arcing through the sky.
The missile hit an altitude of more than 600km, its three stages worked properly
and its payload was deployed as planned, Defense Research and Development
Organization head Vijay Saraswat told the Times Now news channel.
¡§India has emerged from this launch as a major missile power,¡¨ he said.
The missile will need four or five more trials before it can be inducted into
India¡¦s arsenal at some point in 2014 or 2015, Indian officials said.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Liu Weimin (¼B¬°¥Á) declined to
discuss the launch at a regular news conference yesterday, saying only that
India and China should work together as strategic partners.
However, a state TV report on the launch enumerated the missile¡¦s shortcomings
and a Chinese newspaper warned India not to get arrogant and overestimate its
strength.
¡§India should be clear that China¡¦s nuclear power is stronger and more reliable.
For the foreseeable future, India would stand no chance in an overall arms race
with China,¡¨ said an editorial in the Global Times, which is published by the
Chinese Communist Party¡¦s official mouthpiece the People¡¦s Daily.
China also said yesterday that upcoming joint war games with Russia were not
organized in response to India¡¦s successful ballistic missile launch and were
instead aimed at upholding regional peace.
According to the Chinese defense ministry, the two neighbors will hold joint
naval exercises in the Yellow Sea off the coast of the eastern port city of
Qingdao from Sunday to Friday next week.
¡§This joint military exercise is a long scheduled one between China and Russia
in order to uphold regional peace and stability,¡¨ Liu told reporters.
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