India follows Pakistan with missile test

India test-fired its second-longest-range missile on Wednesday, a defence official said, two days after Pakistan announced its own missile test. The two-stage Agni-IV blasted off from the eastern state of Orissa in the third test for the missile, which was first launched in 2010 in a flight marred by technical problems. Its second test last November was declared a success. “The Agni-IV was tested for its full range of 4,000 kilometres (2,480 miles) and it was a success,” Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) spokesman Ravi Gupta told AFP on Wednesday.
Pakistan, which has fought three wars with arch-rival India since their 1947 independence, test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile on Monday with “stealth features”. DRDO spokesman Gupta insisted India’s test was not “country-specific”. “None of our missiles are country-specific. We are a peaceful nation which has never attacked any country in thousands of years,” the DRDO spokesman added. India unveiled its 5,000-kilometre range Agni-V in April, which was seen as a massive boost to its regional power aspirations and one that narrows — albeit slightly — the huge gap with China’s missile systems.