India on Sunday tested a short range
nuclear capable missile off the east coast, a defence
official said, just weeks after talks with Pakistan on
reducing the risk of an atomic confrontation.
The homegrown Agni surface-to-surface
missile, with a strike range of 700 kilometres, was fired
from a mobile launcher at Wheeler Island off Orissa, the
official said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence
Minister Pranab Mukherjee had congratulated defence scientists
for the successful test, the Press Trust of India news
agency said.
The 12-metre missile fired on Sunday,
one of the variants of the Agni series, can carry a one
tonne payload. It is powered by solid fuel which enables
it to travel at 2.5 kilometres per second.
It can be fired from both rail-based and
road-mobile missile launchers. “This provides the
missile with greater operational flexibility,” the
defence official said. “Both countries (Pakistan
and India) do the tests. It is a sovereign right of a
country to take any measure for its defence,” said
Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the senate foreign relations
committee.
“We reserve the sovereign
right to improve our defence capability and that the same
right be granted to other countries.” Indian security
analyst CU Bhaskar said the tests by India and Pakistan
were part of efforts to achieve “operational credibility”
in relation to their missile programmes. “A rough
thumb rule is to conduct 25 to 40 tests before a particular
missile is operationally proven and becomes part of the
inventory,” Mr Bhaskar said. afp
