India launch long-range nuclear missile that could hit Beijing, Africa or even Eastern Europe

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India is set to test its new long-range nuclear missile for the first time, giving the country the capability to hit Beijing and China – and beyond.

The pair, who fought a war in 1962, and continue to argue over borders, and the aim of the $500 million Agni V missile is to turn India into Asia’s main superpower.

India’s government said today that the missile has a range of 3,100 miles or 5,000 kilometres and could be up off their country’s coast as early as tonight.

A new map released shows the nuclear weapon could also reach far into Europe and eastern Africa.  

China is far ahead of India in the missile race, with intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in the country.

‘While China doesn’t really consider India any kind of a threat or any kind of a rival, India definitely doesn’t think in the same way,’ said Rahul Bedi, a defence analyst in New Delhi.

India already has the capability of hitting anywhere inside arch-rival Pakistan, but has engaged in a splurge of defence spending in recent years to counter the perceived Chinese threat.

The Indian navy took command of a Russian nuclear submarine earlier this year, and India is expected to take delivery of a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier soon.

The new Agni, named for the Hindi word for fire, is part of this military build-up and was designed to hit deep inside China, Bedi said.

Currently, the longest-range Indian missile, the Agni-III, has a range of only 2,100 miles or 3,500 kilometres and falls short of many major Chinese cities.

India has also been suspicious of Beijing’s efforts to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean in recent years and sees the weapons race as a way to fight back.

‘It will be a quantum leap in India’s strategic capability,’ said Ravi Gupta, spokesman for India’s Defence research team, which built the missile.

Government officials said the missile should not be seen as a threat.

‘We have a declared no-first-use policy, and all our missile systems, they are not country specific. There is no threat to anybody,’ Gupta said. ‘Our missile systems are purely for deterrence and to meet our security needs.’

The launch window for the missile test, which is being conducted on Wheeler Island off India’s east coast, opens Wednesday evening and closes on Friday.

The Agni-V is a solid-fuel, three-stage missile designed to carry a 1.5-ton nuclear warhead. I

It stands 57 feet tall, has a launch weight of 50 tonnes and was built at a reported cost of 25 billion rupees, and will be moved around the vast country by road or rail.

‘Agni-V is a game-changer and a technological marvel,’ V.K. Saraswat, scientific adviser to the defence minister, told  The Hindu newspaper.

The missile could also be used to carry multiple warheads or to launch satellites into orbit.

The planned test comes days after North Korea’s failed long-range rocket launch. 

North Korea said the rocket was launched to put a satellite into space, but the U.S. and other countries said it was a cover for testing long-range missile technology.

Even if India’s test is deemed a success, the missile will need four or five more trials before it can be inducted into India’s arsenal at some point in 2014 or 2015, Bedi said.

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