China inside missile range by year end

Following up the second testfire of Agni-I missile on Thursday, India today announced that it would testfire the Agni-III missile by the end...

Following up the second testfire of Agni-I missile on Thursday, India today announced that it would testfire the Agni-III missile by the end of this year. The Agni-III — a missile with a range of 3,500 km range — would be capable of striking targets inside China. The earlier variants of the Agni have all been Pakistan-specific.

Participating in a Defence seminar on the concluding day of the Pravasi Bharaitya Divas, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister Dr V.K. Aatre, without naming China, said Agni-III was under development and ‘‘hopefully, we will test the missile before the end of the year’’.

Gadaffi had asked India for
2 N-bombs: IDSA chief

New Delhi: Director Institute for Defence and Strategic Analysis Dr K. Santhanam on Saturday dropped a bombshell when he disclosed that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had approached India for two nuclear bombs but the request had been turned down. On export of Defence technology, scientific advisor Dr V.K. Aatre maintained that technology would not be exported to any country which could use it against India or a friendly country. — ENS

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He also said that Agni-I, testfired on Thursday at the Chandipur interim test fire range on the Orissa coast, had been cleared for induction. ‘‘The Agni missile series has had eight test flights. We don’t need more tests.’’

Brahmos, a supersonic cruise missile which is an Indo-Russian venture, will also be tested later this month. With a range of nearly 290 km, it will be launched from a ship and, once successful, integrated into the newly inducted SU-30 MKI aircraft for a maritime strike role.

Participating in the seminar to seek NRI expertise for technology collaboration on Defence requirements, Aatre said the areas being explored included cyber-security, psychological warfare, counter-insurgency and intelligence gathering. ‘‘But if this relationship is a buyer-seller relationship, then it is a non-starter from the very beginning.’’

Joint secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs Jayant Prasad said India maintained strict controls on export of sensitive equipment. He said India was not interested in developing ICBMs though it had the capability.

Investigators, including a bomb squad, combed the site. (Representational)

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