India's Strategic Forces Command, which manages the country's nuclear weapons stockpile, has tested Agni-IV ballistic missile yesterday. This is the tenth test of this missile and the sixth by the Strategic Forces Command.
The missile itself is not new. What is new is the strategic signals sent by a successful user trial of an already inducted system at a time when Asia's missile competition is intensifying and nuclear deterrence is increasingly tied to readiness, mobility and survivability. The significance of the launch lies less in what India tested and more in what India demonstrated. The message is aimed at adversaries, partners and observers alike. It is a message about credibility, operational maturity and the continued relevance of a missile at the heart of India's land-based nuclear deterrent.
