New Delhi: India has successfully test-fired its indigenously developed Agni-5 missile, an intermediate-range ballistic weapon capable of carrying nuclear warheads to targets deep inside China.
The missile was launched from Odisha on Wednesday and “validated all operational and technical parameters,” the Defence Ministry said. With a range of over 5,000 km, the Agni-5 brings both China and Pakistan within striking distance.
Strategic Timing
The test comes just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin, his first visit there since 2018. It also follows Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to New Delhi, where both sides signalled a cautious thaw in ties.
Relations have been strained since the deadly 2020 border clashes in the Himalayas. However, the two countries have recently resumed commercial flights suspended during the pandemic, and Beijing has reopened pilgrimage routes to Tibet for Indian citizens after a five-year freeze.
“Stable, predictable, constructive ties between India and China will contribute significantly to regional as well as global peace and prosperity,” Modi said after meeting Wang earlier this week.
Broader Geopolitical Context
India’s missile programme is central to its defence posture against both China and Pakistan. The test comes amid ongoing friction with Islamabad, which New Delhi blames for a recent militant attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people. The two countries, both nuclear powers, came dangerously close to open conflict earlier this year.
China, meanwhile, remains Pakistan’s closest defence partner, supplying more than 80% of its imported weapons, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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