Wednesday 18 April 2012

India test nuclear missile


India is planning a test launch of a new ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead to the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai.
 
The test of the Agni-V missile is seen as a major step in India’s efforts to become a regional power that can counter the dominance of China.

Defense Research and Development Organization spokesman Ravi Gupta says the missile could be launched at any time from Wednesday evening until Friday.

The Agni-V is a three-stage missile designed to carry a 1.5-ton warhead with a range of 5,000 kilometers .

The Agni-III is India’s current longest-range missile and can cover a distance of 3,500 kilometers.

The weapons system was not developed to threaten any particular country, said DRDO spokesman Gupta.

“This is a deterrent to avoid wars and it is not country-specific,” he said. “Besides, India has a no-first-use policy,” he said, calling the country’s missile development programme “purely defensive.”The planned test flight comes after India launched last November the Agni-IV missile that can travel 3,500 kilometres and is capable of carrying a one-tonne nuclear warhead deep inside China.

India is among the world’s top 10 military spenders, with Jane’s Defence Weekly forecasting its total purchases between 2011 and 2015 will top $100 billion.

India has fought three wars with Pakistan since independence in 1947, but China is now viewed as the main focus of India’s military concerns.

The border between India and China has been the subject of inconclusive diplomatic talks since the 1980s after the two nations fought a brief, bloody war in 1962.

Indian military analyst Afsir Karim said since the country already has potential to strike China with the Agni-IV, the utility of the latest missile was unclear.

“I do not see any strategic value in developing this system except for upgrading India’s military prestige,” Karim, a retired army lieutenant-general, told AFP.

India staged a string of atomic detonations in 1998 and declared itself a nuclear-weapons state but it refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The country’s test plan has not attracted the international criticism aimed at reclusive North Korea, which last week carried out a rocket test that ended in failure.
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