India, Eye on China, Tests Missile With Longer Range

India said Thursday that it had successfully launched a missile with nuclear capability and a range of 3,100 miles, giving it the ability to strike Beijing and Shanghai and heightening fears of an Asian arms race. With the launching of the missile, called the Agni 5, India joins a small group of countries with long-range nuclear missile capability, including China, Britain, France, Russia, Israel and the United States. Agni is the Hindi word for fire. The launching comes amid growing international apprehension about the militarization of Asia and a stepped-up strategic rivalry there between the United States and China. In March, Beijing announced a double-digit increase in military spending, and India recently became the world’s top arms buyer, displacing China, in part because China has increased it domestic production of weapons. And on Thursday, South Korea tested a missile capable of hitting anywhere in North Korea, less than a week after North Korea launched a rocket that failed minutes after takeoff. The missile launching in India “increases the perception of an arms race, and the reality of an arms race, in East Asia, particularly between China and India,” said Graeme P. Herd, head of the international security program at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, which trains diplomats on peace and security issues.

The timing may be seen as particularly provocative, he said, coming as China’s government deals with a scandal involving one of its top officials and after the United States has stepped up its military presence in the Pacific. “All of this, from the Chinese perspective, looks like a movement from balancing China to containing China,” Mr. Herd said, and could inspire Beijing to strengthen its weapons stockpile and forge closer ties with Pakistan and the Central Asian countries.

The launching was largely celebrated in India, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it “another milestone in our quest to add to the credibility of our security and preparedness and to continuously explore the frontiers of science.” The entire nation honors the scientists involved, he said, who have “done the country proud.” The Indian defense minister, A. K. Antony, said India had “joined the elite club of nations” that possess long-range missiles. The United States, which led the criticism of North Korea last Friday, appeared to warily endorse India’s missile launching. “We urge all nuclear-capable states to exercise restraint regarding nuclear capabilities,” said Mark C. Toner, a State Department spokesman. “That said, India has a solid nonproliferation record.” India has a “no-first-use” policy. China’s immediate reaction was subdued. At a regularly scheduled news briefing, Liu Weimin, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that India and China were “not competitors, but partners,” according to news agencies. The two countries should “work hard to uphold friendly strategic cooperation” for peace and stability in the region, he said. The missile “does not pose a threat in reality,” China’s state-run broadcaster CCTV said, according to The Associated Press. The news channel questioned the accuracy of the missile’s guidance systems and its 50-ton-plus weight, which the Chinese said would force it to be launched from a fixed location, making it an easy target. India said the missile can be launched from a mobile platform. Officials in Pakistan, India’s nuclear-armed neighbor and historic rival, did not return calls for comment. The countries have recently increased trade ties, raising hopes that the longstanding tensions between the two may be ending. The Indian missile’s range would include Tehran, parts of Eastern Europe and Manila. But the focus of the test appeared to be China, analysts said. “Agni 5 will give India complete coverage of targets in China,” Poornima Subramaniam, an Asia-Pacific armed forces analyst at IHS Jane’s Defense, said in an e-mail. “Agni 5 technologically narrows the missile gap between India and China, while the strategic balance between the two rivals is still tipped in China’s favor.” The launching of the Agni 5, from an island off India’s east coast, is part of a missile program that began decades ago. India started its missile development program in 1983. It has suffered occasional setbacks, but last November, it tested the Agni 4, which can hit targets up to 2,200 miles away. It will soon be given to the army for operational use; the Agni 1, Agni 2 and Agni 3 were also given to the army. The Agni 5 weighs about 50 tons and is 51 feet long. It reached an altitude of about 430 miles in this test, the Indian government said. The Agni 5 will be ready for operational use by 2014. “We have achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve in this mission,” Avinash Chandra, mission director for the test, told the Times Now news channel on Thursday. China has a missile that can hit targets at least 6,200 miles away, and Pakistan’s missile range is at least 744 miles. “India has two nuclear-armed adversaries and needs to create minimal deterrence,” said Wing Cmdr. Ajey Lele, a specialist in strategic technologies at the government-financed Institute of Defense Studies and Analysis in New Delhi. Some in India questioned spending so much on a sophisticated missile program as hundreds of millions of the country’s citizens continue to live in extreme poverty. “It is ridiculous,” said Praful Bidwai, a researcher and columnist associated with the Coalition of Nuclear Disarmament and Peace. “We are getting into a useless arms race at the expense of fulfilling the need of poor people.” The Chinese missile program is not directed at India, and the Chinese have assured India of that, he said, adding, “Now, the India missile program is clearly directed to China.”