Agni V test won't change Asian security dynamics: US experts

The successful Agni V missile launch that can reach as far as Beijing, is unlikely to change the security dynamics in Asia, specially between India and China, some American experts feel.

The successful Agni V missile launch that can reach as far as Beijing, is unlikely to change the security dynamics in Asia, specially between India and China, some American experts feel.

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Agni V, however, enhances India's deterrence capabilities against China, they said.

"The existence of the Agni V does not change the weapons requirements of any of India's potential foes: China already has long-range missiles and Pakistan can credibly threaten Indian commercial and political centres with its existing systems," Christopher Clary, a former country director for South Asian affairs in the office of the secretary of defence, told the Global Security Newswire.

Clary, currently is the Stanton Nuclear Security fellow at the RAND Corporation, an eminent American think tank.

"For a long time, Indian strategic planners had to construct wild schemes to deliver a nuclear weapon to China's political and economic heartland in the East, or be content with mushroom clouds above Lhasa (Tibet) in the event of a nuclear exchange," said.

"Beijing won't deign to acknowledge a mutual deterrence relationship with India," Krepon was quoted as saying by Global Security news wire.