US endorses India's K-15 missile test

DEADLY ARSENAL: With K-15 India can launch a nuclear attack 50 m under the sea to a land target 700 km away.

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New Delhi: India on Tuesday successfully test-fired the submarine-launched ballistic missile from under the sea off the Vizag coastline. Codenamed K-15, the test-fire extended India’s critical third leg of the nuclear triad to sea.

It was perhaps the most significant milestone in India's nuclear weaponisation since the Pokhran test in May 1998. This will give India its deadliest nuclear strike weapon and its most assured capability to retaliate against a nuclear attack by an enemy.

But on a day it could have thumped its chest, India kept absolutely silent. The reason was the visiting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who is presently in New Delhi. But Gates, perhaps, surprised his hosts by strongly endorsing the missile test.

"India's the world's largest democracy. It is in our interest to develop this relationship just as much as it is in India's interest. I don't think there's any risk, particularly from US standpoint,” Gates says.

The message is that the US is not only comfortable, but also supportive of India's rise as a bigger power. Moreover, it sees a considerable military element in its growing ties with India.

The K-15 missile will give India the capability to launch a stealthy nuclear attack from 50 metres under the sea to a land target 700 km away. India's clearly gatecrashed into the club of five big super powers.