The Daily Populous Friday August 22nd, 2025 night edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by Aralknight

India has said it successfully test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that, when operational, should be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to any part of China.

The Agni-5 missile was successfully launched in India’s eastern Odisha state on Wednesday, and authorities said it “validated all operational and technical parameters”.

India and China, the world’s two most populous nations, are intense rivals competing for influence across south Asia and relations plummeted in 2020 after a deadly border clash.

India is also part of the Quad security alliance with the US, Australia and Japan, which is seen as a counter to China.

India’s bitter rival, Pakistan, has nuclear weapons as well and the two countries came to close to war in May after militants killed 26 people in Indian-administered Kashmir, an attack New Delhi blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan denied any involvement.

Caught in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by Donald Trump’s tariff war, New Delhi and Beijing have moved to mend ties.

Last October, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, met the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, for the first time in five years at a summit in Russia.

Modi is expected to make his first visit to China since 2018 this month to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation – a regional security bloc.

Ties between New Delhi and Washington, meanwhile, have been strained by Trump’s ultimatum that India end its purchases of Russian oil, a key source of revenue for Moscow as it wages its military offensive in Ukraine.

The US says it will double new import tariffs on India from 25% to 50% by 27 August if New Delhi does not switch crude suppliers.

The Agni-5 is one of a number of indigenously produced short- and medium-range Indian ballistic missiles aimed at boosting its defence posture against Pakistan, as well as China.

slo1111 on August 21st, 2025 at 12:48 UTC »

We are just beginning the biggest expansion of nuclear proliferation and nuclear weapons capability since the cold war. It is going to get nuts

Sumeru88 on August 21st, 2025 at 07:22 UTC »

The Agni-5 missile can also strike almost all of Europe and there are indications its range was deliberately under reported due to India’s current tensions with the U.S.

Aralknight on August 21st, 2025 at 07:16 UTC »

India has said it successfully test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that, when operational, should be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to any part of China.

The Agni-5 missile was successfully launched in India’s eastern Odisha state on Wednesday, and authorities said it “validated all operational and technical parameters”.