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India has successfully tested a nuclear-capable missile that can hit targets deep inside China. This nation thereby joins the ranks of those possessing intermediate-range missile capacity. The missile was fired from a mobile launcher last Wednesday morning at a test site on Wheeler Island, off the coast of the eastern state of Orissa. This marked the third test of the Agni-III missile — India's longest-range ballistic missile — and was staged to establish the repeatability of the missile's performance.

The missile, which has a range of 1860 miles, can carry conventional or nuclear payloads of 1.5 tons, and thereby brings China's major cities such as Shanghai within striking distance. The surface-to-surface projectile reached its designated target in 13 minutes and 20 seconds traveling to a height of 217 miles at a velocity of more than 13,100 feet per second.

The Agni-III — Agni means fire in Sanskrit — was first tested in 2006.

The missile is one of a series developed as part of India's deterrence strategy against neighboring China and Pakistan which also are said to have nuclear weapons.

India has shorter-range missiles that were developed to target long-time rival Pakistan with which it has fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

The two neighbors who launched a slow-moving peace process in 2004 aimed at resolving outstanding disputes, including Kashmir, often stage tit-for-tat missile tests.

But the development of the Agni III is aimed at displaying that India's deterrent reach can stretch far beyond Pakistan, analysts say. The Agni-III is the country's first solid-fuel missile that is compact enough for ease of mobility.

In the last few years, however, tensions between India and China, who fought a brief border war in 1962, have eased and there is now direct trade through the Himalayas.

India's indigenously-developed missile arsenal also includes the short-range Prithvi ballistic missile and the medium-range Akash.