During escalating border tensions with China, India test-fired a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,000 kilometers from an island off its east coast.
According to a government statement, the successful launch on Wednesday (27 October) was in line with “India’s doctrine of credible minimum deterrence that underlies the resolve to no first use.”
The Agni-5 missile landed in the Bay of Bengal with “extreme precision,” according to a statement released on Wednesday night.
New Delhi has improved its weapons systems in recent years as a result of Beijing’s strong missile arsenal, with the Agni-5 estimated to be capable of striking nearly all of China.
India has already demonstrated its ability to strike anywhere in Pakistan.
Since the 1990s, India has been building medium and long-range nuclear and missile weapons in response to growing strategic competition with China, bolstering the country’s defense capabilities significantly.
Last year, tensions between them erupted over a long-disputed portion of their border in the mountainous region of Ladakh. India is also growing wary of Beijing’s efforts to expand its sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean.
Earlier in the month, talks between Indian and Chinese army commanders to remove soldiers from crucial regions along their border came to a halt, failing to end a 17-month deadlock that has occasionally resulted in fatal skirmishes. In 1962, India and China fought a terrible war.
