India tests nuclear-capable Agni-5 missile with range to strike ‘nearly all’ of China

The Agni-5 ICBM, range 5,000km, splashed down in the Bay of Bengal ‘with a very high degree of accuracy’, New Delhi said on Wednesday night
China’s arsenal has driven India to improve its weapons systems in recent years, with the Agni-5 believed to be able to strike most of China

India

Associated Pressin New Delhi

Published: 1:27pm, 28 Oct 2021

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India has test-fired a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,000km (3,125 miles) from an island off its east coast in what local media called a “stern signal” to China as the two remain locked in a border dispute.

The successful launch on Wednesday was in line with “India’s policy to have credible minimum deterrence that underpins the commitment to no first use”, a government statement said.

The Agni-5 missile blasted off from Abdul Kalam Island and splashed down in the Bay of Bengal with “a very high degree of accuracy”, said the statement issued on Wednesday night.

The 17-metre-tall missile has been tested several times before, but not at night, and local media said that the timing was aimed at sending a signal to Beijing.

Beijing’s powerful missile arsenal has driven New Delhi to improve its weapons systems in recent years, with the Agni-5 believed to be able to strike nearly all of China.

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India is already able to strike anywhere inside neighbouring Pakistan, its arch-rival against whom it has fought three wars since gaining independence from British colonialists in 1947.

India has been developing its medium- and long-range nuclear and missile systems since the 1990s amid increasing strategic competition with China in a major boost to the country’s defence capabilities.

Tensions with China have been running high since 20 Indian soldiers died in clashes on their disputed Himalayas border in June 2020. India is also increasingly suspicious of Beijing’s efforts to heighten its influence in the Indian Ocean.

The nuclear-armed neighbours have since reinforced the frontier with tens of thousands of extra troops.

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Talks between Indian and Chinese army commanders to disengage troops from key areas along their border ended in a stalemate earlier this month, failing to ease a 17-month stand-off that has sometimes led to deadly clashes. India and China fought a bloody war in 1962.

India has deepened defence cooperation with Western countries in recent years, including in the Quad alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia.

New Delhi is also a major buyer of Russian military hardware, and ordered Moscow’s S-400 missile defence system despite the threat of US sanctions over the US$5.4 billion deal.

According to The Times of India, New Delhi is working on enabling the Agni-5 to carry several nuclear warheads at once so they can split up and hit different targets.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Delhi sends ‘stern signal’ in launch of ballistic missile