India tests long-range missile capable of reaching deep into China and Europe Link to this video
"It has met all the mission objectives," SP Dash, director of the test range, told Reuters. "It hit the target with very good accuracy."
The Indian-made Agni V is the crowning achievement of a now-mothballed missile programme developed primarily with a possible threat from neighbouring China in mind.
Only the UN security council permanent members - China, France, Russia the US and Britain - along with Israel, are believed to have such long-range weapons.
Fast emerging as a world economic power, India is keen to play a larger role on the global stage and has long angled for a permanent seat on the security council. In recent years it has emerged as the world's top arms importer as it rushes to upgrade equipment for a large but outdated military.
"It is one of the ways of signalling India's arrival on the global stage, that India deserves to be sitting at the high table," said Harsh Pant, a defence expert at King's College, London, describing the launch as a "confidence boost".
The launch, which was flagged well in advance, has attracted none of the criticism from the west faced by North Korea for a failed bid to send up a similar rocket last week.
But China noted the launch with disapproval.
"The west chooses to overlook India's disregard of nuclear and missile control treaties," China's Global Times newspaper said in an editorial published before the launch, which was delayed by a day because of bad weather.
"India should not overestimate its strength," said the paper, which is owned by the Chinese Communist party's main mouthpiece, the People's Daily.
India has not signed the non-proliferation treaty for nuclear nations, but enjoys a de facto legitimacy for its arsenal, boosted by a landmark 2008 deal with the US.
On Wednesday, Nato said it did not consider India a threat. The US state department said India's non-proliferation record was "solid", while urging restraint
India test-fired a long range missile capable of reaching deep into China and Europe on Thursday, thrusting the emerging Asian power into an elite club of nations with intercontinental nuclear weapons capabilities.
A scientist at the launch site confirmed the launch was successful, minutes after television images showed the rocket with a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles) blasting through clouds from an island off India's east coast."It has met all the mission objectives," SP Dash, director of the test range, told Reuters. "It hit the target with very good accuracy."
The Indian-made Agni V is the crowning achievement of a now-mothballed missile programme developed primarily with a possible threat from neighbouring China in mind.
Only the UN security council permanent members - China, France, Russia the US and Britain - along with Israel, are believed to have such long-range weapons.
Fast emerging as a world economic power, India is keen to play a larger role on the global stage and has long angled for a permanent seat on the security council. In recent years it has emerged as the world's top arms importer as it rushes to upgrade equipment for a large but outdated military.
"It is one of the ways of signalling India's arrival on the global stage, that India deserves to be sitting at the high table," said Harsh Pant, a defence expert at King's College, London, describing the launch as a "confidence boost".
The launch, which was flagged well in advance, has attracted none of the criticism from the west faced by North Korea for a failed bid to send up a similar rocket last week.
But China noted the launch with disapproval.
"The west chooses to overlook India's disregard of nuclear and missile control treaties," China's Global Times newspaper said in an editorial published before the launch, which was delayed by a day because of bad weather.
"India should not overestimate its strength," said the paper, which is owned by the Chinese Communist party's main mouthpiece, the People's Daily.
India has not signed the non-proliferation treaty for nuclear nations, but enjoys a de facto legitimacy for its arsenal, boosted by a landmark 2008 deal with the US.
On Wednesday, Nato said it did not consider India a threat. The US state department said India's non-proliferation record was "solid", while urging restraint
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