INDIA/ What is behind the recent nuclear test

The intercontinental missile Agni-V raises tension on the border between India and China. New Delhi, an atomic power since 1974, has successfully launched ballistic warheads capable of carrying nuclear bombs up to 5 thousand miles away, as far as Beijing and Moscow. A move that could further destabilize the Central Asian chessboard, already put at risk from the unofficial axis between China, Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, which has radically transformed the structure of regional alliances, could bring India, a former non-aligned country, closer and closer to the United States, linked by mutual interest to tear Afghanistan away from the Taliban and Pakistan. Ilsussidiario.net asked Francesca Marino, an expert on India for the Italian geopolitical magazine Limes, to explain the situation.

What is the political and military significance of the launch of the Agni-V by India, which has been a nuclear power since 1974?
India’s primary objective is to flex their muscles. China reacted to the launch in a fairly contradictory way. The official statements were reassuring, stressing the friendship, cooperation and trade pacts between the two powers, while the Chinese newspapers resorted to polemical tones, even showing which cities could be hit by the Agni-V on maps, and speaking of the risk of the destabilization of the entire area. According to the Chinese, the missiles could reach even Moscow.

Is India trying to challenge China?
This is absolutely not their goal. Neither India nor China would gain from a war with each other. New Delhi’s objective is just to get into the restricted club of nuclear powers and carry out the strategy that they have pursued in recent years, showing the world that they are a leading power in economic, political and military terms, even though, while they were experimenting with their nuclear missiles, the Indian Army was wearing flak jackets made of bamboo.

Will this test change the balance of power between China and the United States in Central Asia?
The Chinese media has warned the Indians not to rely too much on the United States, which would support India only to counter Beijing. Actually, one missile is not enough to change the balance of power.

Whose side is India on in the chess game of Central Asia?