India´s missiles with nuclear warheads can soon reach Sweden, Finland, and Danmark?

On 20th of january 2014 India sucessfully launched and test-fired a surface to surface missile. It is called Agni-4, which in Hindi means fire. Well, yes, and there is a lot of fire to this missile, as it can weather a temperature of 3000 degrees celcius.  The range is 4000 kms, and the missile was fired from a road-mobile launcher. This indicates that the object can be clandestinely and swiftly moved, thereby making it difficult to trace and easy to launch.

What is important is to realize that India, which has been the largest importer of weapons during the period from 2008 to 2012, is now itself beginning to produce some sophisticated weapons. Agni-4 is one of them.

The Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has helped produce this missile. And this is the organization’s third successful launch. Soon the missile can go into production.

As I mentioned earlier, India has topped the list of the biggest weapon buyers in the world. Between 2008- 2012, the country’s arms imports were 109% higher than that of China. This is simply because China started manufacturing the weapons that it needs on its own ground. India kept buying. But this is now going to change. All is dependent on how far the Indian politicians will liberalize the defence market and make it easier for private organizations and manufacturers to enter the market.

India´s biggest supplier of weapons has been Russia.  India has imported over 100 Russian Su-30MKI combat aircraft, 3 A-50EhI airborne early warning craft and Russian Akula nuclear-powered submarines. But in the last five years, India has increased its import from  USA, making this country the largest weapons exporter to India. But Indian defence experts are skeptical because they feel that they are only supplied with defensive equipment from the Americans. Russia was far more liberal and gave India offensive weapons.

The launching of Agni-4 is a definitive boost to India´s capacity to strike back and its capacity to later develop further complex weapons systems. The fact is that today India can lauch a nuclear warhead missile, which can reach Finland. Soon, it will be able to increase its range and reach other countries like Sweden, Danmark and Norway. But these countries in no way threaten, or have threatened, India´s defence and army. India, like many other countries in Asia, is skeptical of China´s rise, and has promised that all nuclear devices will be kept strictly under supervision and will only be used as a deterrent.

Until now, every fourth dollar out of every ten dollars spent on defence in the world, was being spent by USA. But we will soon see other countries joining the race. China is increasingly spending more on defence, and so will India. Countries that want to be strong, and are willing to defend themselves, will have to manufacture many of their defence products themselves. India fired its Agni-4 missile and did not make a huge fuss about it, as it does not want the world to know that it, too, has nuclear weapons that are far more powerful then the ones dropped on Hiroshima by the Americans a few decades ago

//Mrutyuanjai Mishra