Empowering Thoughts: AGNI V - a ‘game changer’ but purely for deterrence…….!

A ‘game changer’ as the Scientific Adviser to the Defense Minister V.K. Saraswat says, that can perform different roles, from carrying multiple warheads to providing anti-satellite capability and even launching tiny satellites into orbit. India has successfully carried out the maiden test flight of its longest-range nuclear-capable missile, which can apparently travel more than 5,000 kilometers. The Agni V rocket took off around 8:03 a.m. local on Thursday morning and "met all the mission objectives," said S.P. Das, director of the missile test site. The missile, whose stated range of about 3,100 miles puts major Chinese cities within its striking distance, was fired from the coast of the eastern Indian state of Orissa. Defense minister, A.K. Antony, congratulated the Defense Research and Development Organization for the "immaculate" success of the missile launch. Our country’s test fires long-range rocket, the missile development is not an aggressive initiative and that its military program is based on building a credible minimum deterrent with a "no-first-use" policy. "Our missiles are purely for deterrence," Ravi Gupta, a spokesman for the Defense Research and Development Organization, had said ahead of the launch. In November, India successfully tested the fourth version of Agni, meaning "fire" in Hindi, with a range of 3,500 km. Built years earlier, Agni I could travel 700 km, according to Indian defense authorities.

Our borders two nuclear-armed states -- arch-rival Pakistan; and China, with which it fought a brief but bitter war in 1962. Both China and Pakistan possess formidable nuclear-armed missiles of their own. The former is in the process of replacing its liquid-fuelled ballistic missiles with more modern solid propellant ones. From bases in Qinghai and Yunnan provinces, these missiles can reach all of India. In addition, in 2004, China launched the first of its second-generation Type 094 Jin-class nuclear-powered submarines that will carry JL-2 solid-propellant ballistic missiles. Islamabad too has a number of long-range missiles in its armoury. An assessment carried out by an Indian strategic studies group found that Pakistan had a “credible deterrent structure” organized around the solid-propellant Shaheen-1 and -2 missiles. However, responsible possession of nuclear-armed missiles for the purposes of deterrence also requires working assiduously to remove sources of friction that can erupt into open conflict. It is also important that India and China start talking to each other on nuclear matters.

The launch of the Agni V is "another milestone in our quest to add to the credibility of our security and preparedness and to continuously explore the frontiers of science," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday. The flight of the missile is a significant move to demonstrate India's technological competence, Uday Bhaskar, a strategic expert, said earlier this week. But the homegrown missile will undergo several tests more before it becomes fully operational, he said. A successful experiment, Bhaskar said, would bring India closer to the group of nations capable of building intercontinental missiles.

Currently, the five permanent member nations of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France -- are thought to have developed such technology, Prime Minister said. As well as homegrown hardware like the Agni, India buys a lot of arms from overseas. It has overtaken China as the world's biggest importer of weapons, according to a recent report by the the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Siemon Wezeman, a senior analyst with SIPRI, said last month that India's defense spending reflects its regional security concerns and Delhi's global aspirations. China's relative decline as an arms importer comes at a time when it is increasing its overall defense budget, investing in major projects such as the development of a stealth fighter jet and an aircraft carrier program. Many of these weapons are produced domestically.

Agni V, India's most powerful long-range ballistic missile, has lived up to the hopes of its creators at the Defence Research & Development Organisation. But a country whose ‘father of nation’ throughout his life has talked about stopping belligerent, has successfully completed a big task. News channels are debating on our funds on development of people and arms. ‘Prime Time’ on NDTV debated this Priyadarshan, news editor of NDTV was talking about overall development but other defense experts were articulating that India should spent more on defense to combat overall terror.

I hope that AGNI V is a ‘game changer’ and purely for deterrence.