India is planning to test launch a new nuclear missile that for the first time would give it the capability of hitting the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai. The government has hailed the Agni-V missile, with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), as a major boost to its efforts to counter China's regional dominance and become an Asia power in its own right. The test launch was expected to come as early as Wednesday evening. “It will be a quantum leap in India's strategic capability,” said Ravi Gupta, spokesman for India's Defense Research and Development Organization, which built the missile. China is far ahead of India in the missile race, with intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching anywhere in the country. Currently, the longest-range Indian missile, the Agni-III, has a range of only 3,500 kilometers (2,100 miles) and falls short of many major Chinese cities. India and China fought a war in 1962 and continue to nurse a border dispute. India has also been suspicious of Beijing's efforts to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean in recent years. “While China doesn't really consider India any kind of a threat or any kind of a rival, India definitely doesn't think in the same way,” said Rahul Bedi, a defense analyst in New Delhi.
