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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hailed the launch as "another milestone in our quest to add to the credibility of our security and preparedness and to continuously explore the frontiers of science." Others called the test a major step in India's fight to be seen as a world power. "India has today become a nation with the capability to develop, produce, build long-range ballistic missiles and today we are among the six countries who have this capability," Saraswat said. Analysts say France, Russia, China and the United States also have this technology, while Israel is believed to have developed such missiles. Others were more cautious. Defense analyst Rahul Bedi said much needed to be done, noting that a government that is notoriously slow with defense decisions now needs to push forward with more tests, work out strategic doctrines, define targets, figure out manufacturing issues and how many missiles to build among a host of other issues. "We need to build on today's success ... to build in a very capable dissuasive deterrence capability," he said. "But going back to past records I don't know if we can sustain it."
India and China fought a war in 1962 and continue to nurse a border dispute. India has also been suspicious of Beijing's efforts to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean in recent years. India already has the capability of hitting anywhere inside archrival Pakistan, but has engaged in a splurge of defense 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 buildup and was designed to hit deep inside China, Bedi said. Government officials said the missile should not be seen as a threat because India had a no-first-use policy and its missiles were used only for deterrence.
The test came 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. In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the United States urges all nuclear-capable states to exercise restraint regarding nuclear capabilities. "That said, India has a solid non-proliferation record," he told a news briefing. "They're engaged with the international community on non-proliferation issues."
[Associated
Press;
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