India Tests Short-Range Agni Ballistic Missile
Amid a tense military standoff between India and Pakistan, New
Delhi claimed it successfully tested a new, short-range version
of the Agni-1 ballistic missile on January 25.
This is the first known test of an Agni 1-variant, an adaptation
of the 1,500-kilometer, two-stage Agni-1. Because the Agni
series is better configured for nuclear warheads than India’s
short-range Prithvi missile, a shorter-range Agni
could provide India with an increased capability to deliver nuclear
payloads to targets throughout Pakistan.
India fired its new Agni over international waters from
its “Island Test Range” at Chandipur. An Indian diplomat
specified that the test’s “notified range” was approximately
725 kilometers. According to the Indian government, “The mission’s
objectives were fully met as confirmed by data from the network
of ground radars, telemetry stations, and visual observations.”
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee cited national security
considerations in justifying the missile test. “For the nation’s
security and protection, we are taking several steps, and Agni
is one among them,” he said following the test.
At a briefing that same day, Indian Ministry of External Affairs
spokesperson Nirupama Rao described the flight test as “part
of the technical evolution of our missile program,” with the
timing “determined solely by technical factors.” Rao noted
that Pakistan was given advance warning of the test, in accordance
with a series of confidence-building measures agreed to at Lahore
in 1999.
The test comes at a time of particularly high tensions that have
followed a December terrorist attack on the Indian parliament building,
for which New Delhi has held Pakistan responsible. India and Pakistan
have both recently upgraded their armed forces’ alert status,
including deploying short-range nuclear-capable missiles, and have
had cross-border skirmishes in Kashmir.
In a January 25 interview with British Broadcasting Corporation
television, Aziz Ahmed Khan, spokesman for the Pakistani Foreign
Ministry, called the test’s timing “particularly deplorable”
and said the test demonstrated “unwise behavior” that
is “prejudicial to the pursuit of peace and stability in South
Asia.” Khan added that although Pakistan “has capabilities
to match those of India,” Islamabad “will not be provoked
into abandoning the course of restraint and responsibility.”
At a press conference the next day, Pakistani Director-General
for Inter-Services Public Relations Major General Rashid Qureshi
suggested that Pakistan would not react to India’s test by
firing its own ballistic missiles. “Pakistan is neither in
a race with India nor is it going to do anything as a reaction to
what India does,” Qureshi said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed muted criticism of the
test. Speaking to reporters January 25, Powell explained that although
he did not believe that the test would “inflame the situation
particularly,” he would have preferred that India not test-fire
a missile “at this time of high tension.”
Testifying before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on
February 6, CIA Director George Tenet added that the Bush administration
is “deeply concerned” that once a conventional war has
begun, it could escalate into a nuclear confrontation.
Rising tensions between the two nuclear powers prompted Pakistan’s
President Pervez Musharraf to reiterate his longstanding offer to
“denuclearize” the subcontinent. In a January 24 interview
on NBC’s “The Today Show,” Musharraf stated that
“we want to denuclearize South Asia and we want to sign a no-war
pact with [India].” However, Musharraf was unwilling to match
India’s pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons,
claiming that his proposal went “far, far beyond this issue
of no first use.” New Delhi has consistently rejected Musharraf’s
offer, claiming that it is meaningless until Islamabad ceases its
support for cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.
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