Just letting the ChiComs know that all of China and N.Korea are in range. Pakistan won't test...N.Korean's have already tested and failed.
3768 km Delhi to Beijing, as the crow flies.
Apparently it's missile testing season.
We should give India all the aid it needs to refine their missle system so they can put a nuke right in the lap of the Chinese "President" if they have to.
India test-fires long range, China-specific missile
http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=108017
New Delhi (dpa) - India successfully test fired a nuclear-capable long-range ballistic missile on Sunday from a range off the country's eastern coast, defence officials said.
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and a large group of scientists from India's defence research organizations were present to see the first test flight of Agni III, meaning "fire" in Hindi.
The Agni III is an indigenously-built surface-to-surface missile with a range of 3,500 kilometres. It can take a payload of up to 1,000 kilograms and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
The testing of the missile had been put off twice over the past year. It was fired from a fixed platform at the launch complex of the Integrated Test Range at Wheeler's Island on Sunday, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry said.
Eyewitnesses quoted by PTI news agency said the projectile roared vertically into the overcast sky over the Bay of Bengal leaving behind a trail of thick yellow smoke and fire and vanished into the clouds within seconds. It soon re-entered to splash down at a point near Nicobar island.
Several sophisticated radars and electro-optical tracking systems placed on the mainland and a ship near the splash-down point monitored the trajectory of the missile.
Defence experts said the testing of the new missile was significant for India's nuclear minimum deterrence programme, especially with regard to China. Both China and India's western neighbour Pakistan have nuclear-capable missiles.
"The range of the missile allows it to strike targets deep in the Chinese mainland like Shanghai and Beijing and gives credibility to India's minimum deterrence programme," said Rahul Bedi, India correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly.
India and China went to war in 1962 over a border dispute but in recent years their relations have warmed with increasing economic cooperation.
"The Agni III is a vital addition to India's strategic deterrence and gives it the ability to negotiate a little more robustly on its nuclear position and stance," Bedi said.
The Agni III is the most sophisticated of the missiles developed under a long-term integrated missile development programme by India's Defence Research and Development Organization.
With a length of 16 metres it is shorter than earlier variants of the missile - the Agni I and Agni II - which are fully operational and have been inducted into India's armed forces. Agni I has a range of 700 kilometres, while Agni II can cover 2000 kilometres.
India's long-range missile test comes four days after North Korea test fired seven missiles raising an international outcry.
"The reaction to India's test cannot be the same as it has proved to be a responsible nuclear power," said Bedi.
The Agni III has been ready for a couple of years but a test had been reportedly put off for tactical reasons.
"They probably wanted to wait till the India-United States nuclear deal made headway in Congress," said Bedi.
India and the United States earlier this year agreed on a civilian nuclear energy deal which would allow the US to provide India nuclear technology and materials once the latter opened its civilian reactors to international safeguards.
A high-powered team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) held talks with Indian officials in New Delhi Saturday to work out details of India-specific safeguards.
"They held useful and productive technical discussions ... and it was agreed that the two sides would meet again at a mutually convenient date to continue these discussions," a statement issued by India's Foreign Ministry said.