India Conducts Agni V trials days after China Clashes
India has successfully conducted a night test of a nuclear-capable Agni-V ballistic missile capable of hitting targets over 5,400 km, defense ministry sources said on Thursday.The test was conducted to validate the missile’s new technology and equipment and proved that the missile can hit targets farther away than before, they added. The nuclear-tipped ballistic missile was launched from Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Orissa. This was his ninth flight of the Agni V, the missile first tested in 2012, and was a routine test, Pentagon sources said.
The test was conducted a few days after the crash, but was scheduled earlier. India had expressed its intention to test long-range missiles well before the Arunachal Thawan incident and had issued her NOTAMs or notices to airmen. China last week attempted to “unilaterally change the status quo” on its de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control, by invading Arunachal, sparking clashes and injuring both sides’ armed forces, adding that the attempt was successful. The incident is believed to be the deadliest border conflict between the nuclear-armed Asian giants since 2020, when 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers died in clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan valley.In 1962, China and India went to war for control of Arunachal Pradesh.
