Agni 5 Missile

Agni in Hindi or Agnis in latin, means fire. 

Yesterday, at 8AM, I was getting ready for school. Little did I know, on the East coast, the Agni was to be tested in seven minutes.

There has been a lot of hype in India about this missile, our first ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). Last week, an article on China's military buildup was featured in The Economist. And then, I realized that India had become Worlds largest arms buyer in terms of the number. Maybe there is an arms race between India and China?

Anyways, people debated, on how we need to tackle difficulties like poverty and infrastructure on Indian news website, and ranting on the British aid to India on BBC. And I agree with them, there are countries where aid is much more needed than in India. But, the overall opinion was that the missile is needed such that India becomes more than just a regional power and can balance China's military rise. America seems to be backing it's strategic democratic ally, India, and calls for restraint.

However, there is a lot of confusion in the Chinese media. The media has been passing comments like, "India should not over-estimate it's strength", and on the next day, they say that the range for Agni V is not 5,000, but 8,000 Kms. People say this might be a move to prevent countries in Europe from selling arms to India. But here, we cannot say anything, they can be right or wrong.

A missile launch has made me understand many things about how things work here in Asia. China seems to be nervous, atleast the media does. The missile covers all of China. The test was successful, and will be in production in a couple of years. However, this has created many questions in my mind, some which even I dont properly understand.

This wasn't just a missile test, but India's entry into an elite club of nations, which exposed how India and China stand in Asia. These are just my thoughts.

Thanks for reading.