India tests nuclear missilethat can hit Beijing Updated: 04/19/2012 12:21am

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India announced Thursday that it had successfully test launcheda new
nuclear-capable missile that would give it,for the first time, the
capability of striking the major Chinese cities of Beijing and
Shanghai.
The government has hailed the Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000
kilometers (3,100 miles), as a major boost to its efforts to counter
China's regional dominance and become an Asian power in its own right.
The head of India's Defense Research and Development Organization,
Vijay Saraswat, said the missilewas launched at 8:07 a.m. from Wheeler
Island off India's east coast.
It rose to an altitude of more than 600 kilometers (370 miles),
itsthree stages worked properly and its payload was deployed as
planned,he told Times Now news channel.
"India has emerged from this launch as a major missile power," he said.
The window for the launch opened Wednesday night, but thetest had to
be postponed because of weather conditions.
Avinash Chandra, mission director for the test, said that when the
launch took place Thursday morning the missile performed as planned.
"We have achieved exactly what we wanted to achieve in this mission,"
he told Times Now.
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