THE ECONOMIC TIMES (India), AFP
BALASORE – India today test-fired its nuclear-capable strategic missile Agni-IV with a strike range of about 4000 kilometers (2,480 miles), reports The Economic Times.
Flash: India test-fires its long range strategic missile Agni-IV from a test range off Odisha coast.
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) September 19, 2012
The missile test comes two days after Pakistan tested its own nuclear-capable missile on Monday. Pakistan, has fought three wars with India since their 1947 independence.
"The Agni-IV was tested for its full range of 4,000 kilometers and it was a success," Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesman Ravi Gupta told the AFP.
Gupta insisted India"s test was not "country-specific:" "We are a peaceful nation which has never attacked any country in thousands of years," the DRDO spokesman added.
The Agni-V left India knocking at the door of a select club of nations with (ICBMs), which have a minimum range of 5,500 kilometres.
Currently, only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- possess a declared inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capability says the AFP.
