India modernising nuclear arsenal to target China from southern bases: US experts

Two top American nuclear experts have said that India continues to modernise its atomic arsenal keeping China as a target.

An article titled ‘Indian nuclear forces 2017,’ written by experts Hans M Kristensen and Robert S Norris was published in the July-August issue of the digital journal After Midnight, claiming that India is presently busy developing a missile which can target the entire China region from its bases located in South India.

As per the article, India has produced around 600 kilograms of weapons-grade plutonium, which is sufficient for 150-200 nuclear warheads. However, out of these, only 120-130 weapons have actually been produced.

As per their estimates, New Delhi is operating seven nuclear-capable systems, including two aircraft, four land-based ballistic missiles, and one sea-based ballistic missile.

"At least four more systems are in development. The development program is in a dynamic phase, with long-range land- and sea-based missiles emerging for possible deployment within the next decade," the article said.

As per Kristensen and Norris, the two-stage, solid-fuel, rail-mobile Agni-2, the improvement variant of Agni-1, which can deliver a nuclear or conventional warhead more than 2,000 kilometres is probably targeted on western, central, and southern regions of China.

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