India successfully test-fired a long-range nuclear-capable missile on Thursday from an island in the Bay of Bengal.

The test, the fifth of the Agni-5 intercontinental ballistic missile, was made from a mobile launcher, and “further strengthens our credible deterrence”, the Indian defence ministry said in a statement.

India has been developing its nuclear and missile systems in recent years amid increasing strategic competition with China. The test was “a major boost to country's defence capabilities”, the ministry said.

Beijing's powerful missile arsenal has driven New Delhi to improve its weapons systems in recent years, with the Agni-5 believed to be able to strike nearly all of China.

Tension flared last year between the two neighbours over a long-disputed section of their border high in the Himalayas.

India is also increasingly suspicious of Beijing's efforts to heighten its influence in the Indian Ocean.

Opinion

Editorial

Ultimate price
Updated 02 Nov, 2024

Ultimate price

To dismantle culture of impunity for crimes against journalists, state must ensure that perpetrators do not go unpunished.
Mastung bombing
02 Nov, 2024

Mastung bombing

INSTABILITY continues to haunt Balochistan, as Friday morning’s bombing in Mastung has shown. At least nine...
Plane speak
02 Nov, 2024

Plane speak

DESPITE all its efforts to facilitate PIA’s privatisation, it seems the government only ended up being taken for a...
Seeking investment
Updated 01 Nov, 2024

Seeking investment

Foreign visits will be fruitless unless crucial structural, policy reforms directly affecting investors are focused.
State-backed terror
01 Nov, 2024

State-backed terror

OVER the past year or so, India’s reportedly malign activities in foreign countries have increasingly come under the radar, with
Shared crisis
01 Nov, 2024

Shared crisis

WITH Lahore experiencing unprecedented levels of smog, the Punjab government has announced a series of “green...