INDIA: India successfully test fired a short-range variant of its nuclear-capable intermediate range ballistic missile yesterday to a range of 700 km, prompting rival Pakistan to condemn Delhi's claims that the trial was neither "non-provocative" nor "country-specific".
INDIA: The Defence Ministry in New Delhi said the test objectives of the Agni ("Fire") missile, a part of India's nuclear deterrent, fired from the Chandipur test range off the eastern coast around 8.50 a.m. local time, had been "fully met".
The Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, said the test was "one of several steps" India is taking to ensure its national security. "This is a big step and it mirrors India's scientific progress," Mr Vajpayee added. This comes at a time when the Indian and Pakistani armies are squared-off along their common frontier and tensions are running high between the nuclear neighbours following last months suicide attack on India's parliament for which Delhi blames Islamabad.
"The test was planned in advance and its timing was determined solely by technical factors," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Ms Nirpuma Rao, said. She said India had informed the permanent members of the UN Security Council, Pakistan, Japan, Germany and Spain, which currently holds the EU presidency, of the test which she insisted was conducted in a "transparent and predictable way". India was convinced about the legitimacy of testing the missile and had no intention of engaging in an arms race, she added.
Islamabad condemned the test as potentially "destabilising and ill-timed" and accused Indian troops of firing mortar and machineguns on Pakistani troops across their disputed, northern Kashmir border soon after the missile test.
"We hope the international community will take note of India's behaviour that is prejudicial to stability in the region, especially during the current situation," a Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement declared, adding that Islamabad was adopting a policy of restraint.
The tests came on the eve of India's Republic Day when most of its military assets are displayed at an impressive parade in Delhi's main thoroughfare. Military sources said the solid fuelled missile had been developed to strike "high value " Pakistani nuclear targets deep inside the desert in Baluchistan province. Capable of carrying a 1,000 kg nuclear warhead, official sources said its "repressed trajectory" and "operational flexibility" of being fired from a mobile rail launcher would make it difficult to detect.
At present, India has deployed surface-to-surface missiles with ranges of 150 km and 250 km respectively, while the Agni I and Agni II, capable of reaching 1,500 km and 2,300 km, are in a series production. Pakistan's arsenal includes nuclear-capable ballistic missiles with ranges of around 1,450 km, capable of reaching principal Indian economic and military targets.
After their 1998 tit-for-tat nuclear tests Pakistan retained the first use option of nuclear weapons while India settled for a second strike, retaliatory alternative. "The tests has sent out powerful signals worldwide that India's policies will be guided by its own national security interests," said former Lieut-Gen V.T. Raghavan, who heads the Delhi Study Group security think-tank said.
India has refused to withdraw its military from the Pakistani border until Islamabad cracks down on sponsoring cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.
