Posted on 04/06/2003 6:33:39 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Nuclear-capable Agni III, which will serve as a deterrent to neighbouring rivals China and Pakistan, will be test-fired later this year
NEW DELHI - India is developing the Agni III, an advanced and longer-range version of its most sophisticated nuclear-capable missile, and scientists are seeking to test-fire it later this year.
'The test-firing of Agni III is overdue and we feel the need for that long-range missile as part of our policy of deterrence,' Defence Minister George Fernandes was reported by the Press Trust of India as saying.
Agni means 'fire' in Hindi.
'The date has not been firmed up. The effort is to see that it is test-fired this year,' he said.
India says it needs the missiles for defence against its neighbours - Pakistan in the west and China in the north - which it had fought in the past. India and China fought a brief mountain war in 1962. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947 - two of them over the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Mr Fernandes also said India had put on hold the development of the Trishul, a surface-to-air missile that would target aircraft and counter sea-skimming missiles.
'At the moment, we are not going for the development of Trishul,' he said.
The current versions of the Agni - I and II - are being produced and can be deployed by India's armed forces. Both are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Agni I has a range of 700km. Agni II has a range of up to 2,200km and is capable of hitting targets anywhere in Pakistan and deep into China.
Agni III's range has not been disclosed, but government officials have said it could be more than 3,000km. India's missile arsenal also includes the Prithvi, a short-range ballistic missile with a range of 153km; the Akash, a surface-to-air missile; and the Nag, an anti-tank missile.
India recently tested the supersonic Brahmos missile, which is capable of hitting Pakistani cities and is developed in a joint programme with Russia.
The Brahmos has a range of 300km and can carry a payload of 200kg but cannot carry a nuclear warhead. It flies at more than 2,250kmh, twice the speed of sound, and has three versions: ground-to-air, air-to-ground and a navy version.
India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974. Its nuclear tests in 1998 caused international outrage and provoked economic sanctions by the United States and other Western nations. Pakistan followed suit with nuclear tests of its own.
Western nations gradually lifted sanctions against both India and Pakistan as they became allies in the global war on terror.
Are India's nuclear weapons safe from internal terrorism?
Why does India feel compelled to work with Russia?
Why is Russia helping to proliferate nuclear delivery systems without any objections from the UN?
Can we really trust India? I'm having strong doubts.
Yes, but why is it codeveloping strategic weapons with Russia?
So your private school education taught you to trust India implicitly? I can neither find strong support for American hegemony among the Indians I know personally, nor does the Indian press offer any confirmation of a consistently pro-American position. With India siding against us at the UN over Iraq and engaging in arms development with Russia, tell me again why I shouldn't express doubts.
I would like to trust India, but until I see a consistent position of pro-anglo cooperation and a discontinuation of its arms dealings with Russia, I'll wait.
I'm willing to change my mind if you can show me otherwise.
The problem isn't India. It is that Russia is helping everyone from theChiComs to Iran and Libya.
Yes, I understand their dilemma. I don't know their options very well, however. To me, India appears to have been practically a Soviet satellite state during the cold war. So India's resolve to stand against communism is somewhat in question. Given their continued problems with internal terrorism, I question India's resolve to crush muslim extremism, as well.
I want our friends in India to stand up and show their mettle. Pretending their lack of resolve bodes well for America and Britain now will serve no purpose but to allow India to waffle ad infinitum.
President Bush made the choice clear: you're either with us, or your with the terrorists.
What we need is something much more complicated than arranging to identify Pakistan as a terrorist state. I don't know the details of our policy there, but based on the inexorble march of our WOT, I doubt that it is naive.
Pakistan is heating up right now. Let's see how it unfolds, and let's give our best support to the Bush administration as they puzzle through the range of possibilities.
As far as India co-developing with Russia because we gave missile tech to the Chinese, that only makes partial sense to me. India is doing it with Russia because India can, and we wouldn't. Are you saying that India needs a counter to Chinese ICBM capability? Or is it Pakistani? Or both? Whatever the case, we don't need to help India get ICBMs, and we don't need Russia helping "nearly" third world countries to obtain them.
Indian nukes could fall into the hands of Muslim terrorists next week for all we know; if they had missiles attached to them, then that would be all the more dramatic.
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