India downplaying Agni-V's potential: Chinese expert

Beijing: Chinese experts feel that there is to more India’s successful long-range nuclear-capable missile Agni-V than what New Delhi is saying. A Chinese researcher said the missile “actually has the potential to reach targets 8,000 kilometers away”. Du Wenlong, a researcher at China’s PLA Academy of Military Sciences, told the Global Times that the Agni-V “actually has the potential to reach targets 8,000 kilometers away”. [caption id=“attachment_282182” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Chinese experts feel that there is to more India’s successful long-range nuclear-capable missile Agni-V than what New Delhi is saying. PTI”] [/caption] Du added that “the Indian government had deliberately downplayed the missile’s capability in order to avoid causing concern to other countries”. India Thursday test-fired the Agni-V missile that it said can accurately hit targets more than 5,000 km away. With this launch, India entered an exclusive club of nations that have this capability. Zhang Zhaozhong, a professor with the People’s Liberation Army National Defence University, told the Global Times that according to China’s standard, an ICBM should have a range of at least 8,000 km. “The Agni-V’s range could be further enhanced to become an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile,” he said. IANS