India successfully tested two short-range nuclear-capable missiles from two sites off its eastern coast yesterday, a defense ministry official said.
India, which tested nuclear weapons in 1998, has developed a series of nuclear and conventional missile systems as part of a program begun in 1983.
Yesterday’s first test was the launch of the Dhanush, which has a range of 350km and was fired from a naval ship in the Bay of Bengal off the shores of the state of Orissa.
The second missile was the Prithvi (Earth)-II, launched from Chandipur-on-Sea Integrated Test Range (ITR), 200km northeast of Bhubaneswar, Orissa’s capital.
“The tests were successful and met all the mission objectives,” S.P. Dash, director of the ITR, told reporters.
The Dhanush, which means bow in Hindi, is a variant of the ground-to-ground Prithvi missile, developed for the Indian navy.
Both variants can carry nuclear and conventional warheads and have been developed at home.
The 8.5m Prithvi-II missile has a range of 150km to 350km and can carry a one-tonne payload.
Last month, India announced it would test a nuclear-capable missile with a range of more than 5,000km within a year.
India has developed an array of weapons systems for reaching potential targets in neighboring Pakistan and China.
India’s longest-range nuclear-capable missile, Agni-III, can travel a maximum of 3,500km.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan, the Islamic rival state with which India has fought three wars since their partition six decades ago, has said India’s missile development program could trigger a new arms race in the region.
The most recent prominent example of tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India came in 2002, where anti-Muslim riots in the western Indian state of Gujarat claimed more than 1,000 lives.
It is believed that top officials from Gujarat state played roles in the violence, and some have since been implicated in the riots.
Top Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state, appeared yesterday before a panel probing the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat, witnesses said.
It was the first time that Modi, long accused by human rights groups of turning a blind eye to the pogrom, has been questioned by investigators to establish if he had a role in the riots.
Modi briefly greeted reporters before entering the office of India’s Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team in Gandhinagar, Gujarat’s administrative capital.
“I shall respond to it, fully reflecting the law and keeping in view the dignity of a body appointed by the Supreme Court,” Modi said.
There were no immediate details of his appearance before the panel.
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