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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
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Associated Pressin New Delhi
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.
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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.
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.
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