Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists over the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile, capable of deploying multiple warheads.
The defence ministry said the test-flight was carried out on Wednesday evening and it met all the trial objectives, validating the reliable performance, as confirmed from the data captured by a number of range sensors deployed at different locations.
China has more than 500 nuclear bombs in its arsenal and is developing new Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) that will significantly improve its nuclear-capable missile forces, the Pentagon said on Thursday.
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
According to the Pentagon report, the PLA is creating options for dissuading, deterring, and defeating external intervention in the Indo-Pacific region.
"We estimate that Pakistan now has a nuclear weapons stockpile of approximately 170 warheads. The US Defense Intelligence Agency projected in 1999 that Pakistan would have 60 to 80 warheads by 2020, but several new weapon systems have been fielded and developed since then, which leads us to a higher estimate," the Nuclear Notebook column published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on September 11 said.
Kim did not rule out diplomacy with the Biden administration despite that Pyongyang called Biden a 'rabid dog' after Biden labelled Kim a 'thug'.
At a cursory look, the development of a new strategic submarine by China appear to be of marginal impact on India as Sanya base is far away from Indian shores and as such ground-based missiles in China could be deployed in the event of skirmishes between the two rising countries in Asia. Besides, the avowed aim in developing the new Jin SSBN is not to target India but the United States, in the Chinese quest to become a great power in the world.
China was the first country to export such sensitive equipment to Pakistan
'India must close the missile technology gap with both China and Pakistan as early as possible, or else the credibility of India's nuclear deterrence will remain suspect,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The new missile could deliver 2,000 to 3,500 kilograms of payload to any point in the continental US, notes Rajaram Panda.
Even without a sanctioned government project for the Agni-6, it seems inevitable that the Agni-5, over the next few years, will organically evolve into an ICBM with improved technologies and capabilities.
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