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Agni-II successfully test-fired

At 0947 hours IST, the Agni-II missile was successfully launched.

Releasing the news, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pramod Mahajan said that as per the Lahore Agreement, India had informed Pakistan about the test-firing of the missile one day before the actual test.

Pakistan, the United States and some other countries are understood to have urged restraint, and asked India not to go ahead with the test.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz said on Sunday, in the aftermath of the successful test-firing of the Agni, that Islamabad might give a "befitting response" to the Agni-II test.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, addressing the country on national television later in the evening, announced the successful test and said that the act was an indication of "our steadfast commitment to self-reliance" on security matters, and had indicated that India would not, under any circumstances, compromise on its defence requirements. He further called on the scientists to ensure that India remained ahead in the fields of technology and defence.

He also reiterated that India would not turn its nuclear-capable missiles against non-nuclear countries.

The missile was test-fired from Inner Wheeler Island, a part of the Balasore Missile Testing Range in Orissa.

"It was a perfect, textbook type launch," Mahajan said, adding that the range on the missile was 2000 km. The first version of Agni had a range of 1500 km.

Defence Minister George Fernandes and Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister A P J Abul Kalam were present at the site.

It is exactly 11 months since the Pokhran II Tests, which were carried out on April 11 at 11 am. It also ends a five-year freeze on the testing of the Agni series of IRBMs.

A three-minute film of the launch was shown to journalists at the briefing, where DRDO scientists Dr K Santhanam and Dr K Raghavan, who were associated with the test firing, were present.

''We have reached the point of operationalising of Agni as a weapons system. Today's test also proved the mobile launch capability which means it can move in rugged areas with a very compact system'', Fernandes said in his briefing.

''It carried a substantial payload'', Fernandes said, without going into details. ''That will depend on the circumstance'', he ,said in reply to a question whether about whether the new missile would be armed with conventional or nuclear warheads.

Asked about production of the missile, Fernandes said ''That's a loaded question. Whatever we need to do we will do keeping in view our security concerns''.

Asked whether the timing of the test had anything to do with the political crisis the Vajpayee government was facing from its coalition partner, Fernandes said, ''Coalition is political. This is a national security matter''.

''Today is a great day for India and what was satisfying was that the launch took place on scheduled time without a hitch whatsoever," the defence minister told the media. "And, the entire flight from launch to impact was under constant observation and demonstrated that we have achieved a perfection of high order in missile technology.''

Thanking the prime minister for the tremendous interest he took in the project and the support he gave to the defence ministry and DRDO, Fernandes conveyed his and Vajpayee's greeting to the scientific community which had "shown commitment, capabilities and dedication through its united efforts at making Agni-II a success."

Immediately after experiencing ''tense moments before the launch, expectations during the flight and then the joy,'' the defence minister briefed the prime minister about the success of the project.

Minister for Science and Technology Murli Manohar Joshi also congratulated the scientists for the successful launch.

''This has given a better and safer security environment to the country,'' Joshi said, adding that the space and missile programme should continue for taking India's defence capabilities to the optimum.

The successful launch is seen a major technological jump in India's efforts to plug the missle-related gaps in its defence, and fill a vacuum in India's nuclear deterrent profile. The testing was part of India's goal of accumulating an entire range of tactical and strategic nuclear-capable missiles.

The test-firing was planned for early March, but postponed due to some undisclosed reasons. The government had in fact even issued the mandatory shipping and air traffic warnings about the impending tests in March.

Defence analysts had at the time urged the government to go ahead with the tests of Agni-II before the closure of the 'test window' in the Bay of Bengal, the period during which such a test is not possible.

There had been some opposition to the testing of the advanced version of the Agni, especially from the United States which reportedly advised India to refrain from further testing as part of the series of confidence building measures with Pakistan. However, there is a view that Washington has only opposed the deployment of missiles and not India's missile development programme.

A US embassy official in New Delhi told the media that his government was not happy over the test.

"We would regret that India has decided to test-fly this extended range of the Agni missile," the embassy official told news agencies. "India has said it wants to avoid a nuclear missile race with its neighbors. We hope India will show restraint consistent with its declared intentions. But since they have gone ahead we would probably have to respond, but we will make a decision in a day or two," the official said. "Most probably we would have to give a befitting response."

Defence experts were of the view, however, that if there was an impression that India had changed its mind under foreign pressure, it would adversely affect the country's nuclear posture after Pokhran-II.

However there are different opinions about whether a longer range missile is linked with the nuclear weapons programme. While some experts say that a long range missile without nuclear warheads would be pointless, others feel that a conventional warhead would be enough.

Experts have always held the view that India should have a large range missile and use the easy-to-handle solid propellant as fuel. The new Agni uses a solid-propulsion booster and liquid propulsion upper state. It also uses the same state-of-the-art indigenous re-entry technology of the earlier tested IRBMs. The delivery system that has been visualised is reported to have a potential strike range of 2,500 kms.

The test was also to improve mid-air guidance of the missile. A Global Positioning System (GPS) system has been incorporated into the missile for the purpose.

The GPS receives satellite-based feeds of its geographic position in mid-air and an on-board computer will carry out the necessary corrections to steer the weapon to its target.

According to defence experts, with the launch of the road-mobile, solid-fuelled Agni-II, india is acknowledging the rapid missile advances of three of its neighbours -- China, Pakistan and Iran. By shelving Agni, they said that for several years India had gone against its own defence interests.

Pakistan, according to experts, has stolen a march over India by clandestinely acquiring various missiles while China is building two new ICBMs with multiple warhead technology. Instead of India plugging its missile related gaps, the Narasimha Rao government had put into hibernation the Agni programme in 1994, bowing to US pressure, defence experts charged.

The emerging missile defences in its neighbourhood meant India would have to arm its ballistic missiles with decoy and other countermeasures, experts said, adding that Agni-II was only a stepping stone to other policy measures.

The parliamentary standing committee on defence had, last year, asked the government to go ahead 'full steam' to develop the entire range of missiles after reports that Pakistan had positioned their missiles targeting Indian cities while China had developed a large number of missile systems which can target any part of the country.

Interestingly, the first party to jump on the bandwagon was the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham, which while congratulating the scientists for the successful launch, said "a genuine nationalist government was needed at the centre to boldly pursue the Agni-III and Agni-IV programmes.

Senior AIADMK leaders alleged that Defence Minister George Fernandes had ordered the Defence Reasearch and Development Organisation (DRDO) scientists to cancel the plans to test fire Agni-II due to pressure from the Western nations. It was only Jayalalitha's public stand on the issue, the AIADMK leaders said, that Prime Minister Vajpayee was forced to order the test-firing of the missile.

In a statement earlier in the day Jayalalitha, apparently unaware that the launch had taken place, alleged that Fernandes had cancelled the test at the "behest of the ruling Social Party-Green Party alliance in Germany". The government was working feverishly to disarm the country and make it vulnerable to nuclear and conventional blackmail, she charged. Adding to her list of targets, Jayalalitha in that statement had accused External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh of actively campaigning to stop the tests.

At 2015 IST, the Prime Minister in an address to the nation said: ''I am happy to inform you that the advanced version of Agni, India's intermediate range ballistic missile (IRGM), was test-fired this morning. The test was successful on every count.

''On behalf of all of you, I congratulate and express our deep appreciation to the team of Indian scientists, technicians, jawans and other defence personnel for this historic achievement. With today's success, they have once again shown that they are second to none in the world.

''Agni is a tribute to their dedication and teamwork. It is also a vindication of our steadfast commitment to self-reliance. In a rapidly changing security environment, india cannot depend on others to defend her. We have to develop our own indigenous capabilities. Agni is a symbol of that resurgent India which is able to say: 'Yes, we will stand on our own feet.'

''As was the case with the nuclear tests at Pokharan in May last year, the test-firing of Agni missile is also a purely defensive step. It is not meant for aggression against any nation. Rather, agni is proof of our determination to strengthen our national security so comprehensively that we can defend ourselves. I have said earlier, and I reiterate, that India remains committed to minimum deterrence, to no-first-use of nuclear weapons, and never to use them against non-nuclear weapon states."

UNI

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