The government has hailed the Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), as a major boost to its efforts to counter China's regional dominance and become an Asian power in its own right. The test launch was slated to come as early as Wednesday evening, but Indian media said a delay was likely because of poor weather conditions.
Funny how the ability to nuke China is important but the ability to nuke America is not:
Some reports characterized the Agni-V as an intercontinental ballistic missile — which would make India one of the few countries to have that capability — but Gupta and analysts said its range fell short of that category.
India has no need for such sophisticated weapons, said Rajaram Nagappa, a missile expert and the head of the International Strategic and Security Studies Program at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore.
"I don't think our threat perceptions are anything beyond this region," he said.
Huh. I guess we aren't the scary threat that some paint us to be.
UPDATE: Scheduled posting still not working. But this is still an update despite being but a minute later:
India announced the successful test launch Thursday of a new nuclear-capable missile that would give it the ability to strike the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai for the first time, a significant step forward in its aspirations to become a regional and world power.
The Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), 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.
Meanwhile, China unleashes the charm offensive they've become famous for:
"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 Communist Party's official mouthpiece the People's Daily.
Silly India! What are they thinking when they think China is a threat to them?
I guess we won't see India working on longer missiles unless that "Maldives" crisis President Obama is trying to spark between Britain and India works out. I don't buy that the president mis-spoke for a second. Britain is hated because of Kenya and India is hated because Bush liked them. Leading from Between, eh?
UPDATE: If China doesn't like India building long-range missiles, consider this just a taste of things to come as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan--in the first wave--do the same thing if North Korea keeps advancing their nuclear missile plans.
China has been enjoying the discomfort of potential targets of North Korean missiles. The Chinese won't like it when the Middle Kingdom is simply the bulls eye of every neighbor with long-range nuclear-capable missiles.
