India plans 6,000-km range Agni-IV missile

In what could provide India greater strategic depth, the government on Wednesday announced its plan to develop 6,000-km range Agni-IV missile which will be capable of destroying targets deep in China.

The announcement is seen as a move to send out strong signals to countries in the neighbourhood. Any missile with a range of more than 5,000 km stationed in south or central India would be out of the range of most capable missiles in Pakistan's arsenal while it would be able to hit targets in eastern and northern China with cities like Beijing and Shanghai in its ambit.

The 3,500-km Agni-III, which was successfully test-fired in April, will not be able to reach cities like Beijing unless it is deployed in eastern states near the Chinese border.

Top scientist V K Saraswat of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said the Agni-IV project was in the design stage and its trials and development could take a few years.

Saraswat said the DRDO would carry out three more tests of Agni-III over the next year with the second trial of the missile slated by June. The 3,500-km range missile, which has the capacity to carry a nuclear payload of upto 1.5 tonnes, is likely to be inducted into the forces by 2009 after at least three successful tests.

The DRDO scientist said India would have a complete ballistic missile defence (BMD) system in three years — ready and deployed. The system will have interceptor missiles that can hit targets 50-km above the atmosphere and supersonic interceptors that can eliminate endo-atmospheric targets 15-km within the atmosphere.

Believed to be superior to America's Patriot, the BMD system has been in development for the last eight years. As part of the programme, the Prithvi air defence missile was tested in November 2006 while advanced air defence interceptor was tested this month.

The development of 6,000-km Agni-IV also indicates that the country has shelved plans to develop Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles which would have hit far away targets.

There had been speculations of India developing an ICBM named Surya with a range of more than 10,000-km. However, in light of the ongoing negotiations on Indo-US nuclear deal, it is quite possible that India may not like to annoy US.

India claims successful missile interception test

India says it has carried out its first successful test interception of a ballistic missile, using a second missile to shoot down an incoming rocket, the defense ministry said.

If the interceptor missile, the medium-range and nuclear-capable Prithvi II, can be transformed into a viable defense system, it would push India into an elite club of nations with working missile shields.

Such a system would vastly boost India's defensive capabilities, especially against neighboring Pakistan. The longtime rivals are both nuclear-armed.

According to the ministry, the first missile, a modified Prithvi II simulating the "adversary's missile," was launched from the Chandipore test range about 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Bhubaneswar, capital of India's Orissa state.

The interceptor, also a Prithvi, was fired one minute later from the Wheeler's Island missile testing center. The island is in the Bay of Bengal, about 170 kilometers (105 miles) north of Bhubaneswar.

In July, India reported a successful test firing of the longer-range Agni II nuclear missile for a full day before acknowledging the test failed, with the missile plunging into the sea short of its target.

But this time Defense Minister A. K. Antony was quick to convey "his heartiest congratulations" to the development team, the statement said.

The test caught observers by surprise, particularly the use of the Prithvi, which until now had been used only as surface-to-surface missile.

A successful missile kill would represent a major advance for India, analysts said.

"The technology is hard and you have to be working for years," said Robin Hughes, the deputy editor of Jane's Defence Weekly. "If they have done that in the first test, it is an exceptional advance in technology."

However, the true capabilities could only be known once India revealed further details about the system, he said.

Most of the technology was home grown and was "validated through this successful mission," the defense ministry statement said.

The nuclear-capable Prithvi II can carry a conventional payload of up to 500 kilograms (1100 pounds) and has a range of 250 kilometers (155 miles). The move to modify it comes after the repeated failure of India's Trishul anti-missile project.

Monday's test also represented a victory for India's domestic missile program.

"This has great political significance for the DRDO since the recent avalanche of failures, so this success is important for them," said Gen. Ashok Mehta, a retired officer and military commentator.

However, he noted that it was only the first step in a process that would require at least 30 successful tests before the system could be brought online.

India has also been in talks with the Israel, the U.S. and Russia to buy a proven anti-missile defense system, and the Press Trust of India news agency quoted an unnamed defense officials as saying India would still pursue such options.

Mehta said the test was also a message to Pakistan, which does not any similar capacity.

The interceptor test comes a week after the firing of a single Prithvi II missile, and 10 days after Pakistan carried out a similar test of its nuclear-capable Ghauri missile, also known as the Hatf 5.

The competing missile tests came after the countries concluded a crucial round of peace talks in New Delhi aimed at resolving their differences, including the thorny issue of their territorial dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir.

India routinely test-fires missiles it is developing for military use, as does Pakistan. Both countries are usually informed ahead of time of the other's tests.

The official said that some 3,000 people from five villages within a radius of 200 kilometers (125 miles) from Chandipore were temporarily evacuated as a precaution while the test took place.

Terror Jihadi Groups In Pakistan, Bangladesh Jointly Striking India

Pakistan-based terror outfits have formed a strong nexus with militants in Bangladesh and are taking advantage of the porous border to carry out attacks in India, according to the paramilitary Border Security Force (BSF).

'A strong nexus has emerged between Pakistan-based terror outfits like Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) with Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) and Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) of Bangladesh,' A.K. Mitra, director general of the BSF, told IANS.

'We have authentic reports that militants are using Bangladeshi territory for entering India clandestinely through porous borders and have information about their involvement in terrorist activities in India.'

Mitra said that Bangladeshi nationals are being trained to be terrorists in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The BSF official said the paramilitary force had recently apprehended 11 militants while they were crossing over the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal.

'During investigations it was found that these 11 militants were a part of LeT, JeM and JMB. This suggests that they were on some joint mission.'

Mitra said there were also reports of women being involved in terror activities. 'It is a great cause of concern and the force is maintaining a strict vigil over the developments.'

Mitra's admission of terrorists using the border with Bangladesh to sneak into India is in line with the belief of Indian intelligence agencies that HuJI militants in connivance with JeM ultras are conducting terror strikes here at the behest of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

Intelligence agencies strongly suspect HuJI's hand behind the synchronised bombings that ripped across three prominent Uttar Pradesh towns leaving 13 dead and 80 wounded last month.

'The e-mail warnings sent to some private TV channel offices minutes before the blasts (in Uttar Pradesh) suggest a HuJi hand in the blasts,' an intelligence official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

'The e-mail id, guru_alhind@yahoo.fr, from which the mail was sent has an indication of HuJi involvement as the name Guru had first sprung up during the interrogation of alleged India HuJi chief Babu Bhai, arrested in Lucknow last June.'

'Babu Bhai had referred to a contact man in New Delhi as Guru, who could not be tracked down, therefore the e-mail id could have something to do with the same person,' he pointed out.

Intelligence officials also claim that HuJI was behind the bombings in Malegaon last year, and Ajmer and Hyderabad this year.

Mitra said infiltration along the India-Bangladesh border could not be completely plugged since the frontier was porous.

'We can't completely control infiltration through the India-Bangladesh border as it is very much porous and many areas are not fenced because of geographical barriers,' Mitra said.

India shares a 4,096 km border - 2,979 km of land and 1,116 km of rivers - with Bangladesh. The BSF has been able to fence only 66 percent of the land border. Also, only 277 km of the border area is covered under floodlights and even this is affected by frequent electricity failures and rainfall.

According to BSF figures, a total of 6,617 Bangladesh nationals were apprehended during the first 10 months this year compared to 9,679 during the year 2006.

'The decrease in interception of illegal Bangladeshi migrants is due to ongoing border fencing and construction of roads, and the setting up of floodlights along the border,' he added.

While fencing has reduced the infiltration problem to a large extent, the border can still be breached. 'We want floodlights everywhere in the complete border area,' he said, adding that a proposal regarding this was sent to the home ministry.

Mitra said that during the India-Bangladesh border coordination meeting in Dhaka this year, a list of 141 camps of anti-India insurgent groups was handed over to Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).

'Last year, the number was 176, which shows that some of the camps have been destroyed or have been shifted due to selective action by the forces,' Mitra said.

'However, Bangladeshi authorities maintained their official stand that Bangladesh doesn't allow its territory to be used for any prejudicial activity against any other country.'