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China-India relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China-India tensions simmer after missile test, troop border brawl

  • China hopes to lower the temperature, but will remain cautious after India’s recent military activities
  • Indian missile launch following border clash was just a ‘coincidence’, analyst says

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China hopes to reduce diplomatic tensions, but will remain cautious after India’s recent military activities, including Thursday’s missile launch. Photo: Twitter
Kawala Xie
China is hopeful tensions with India can be eased, but will remain cautious after New Delhi’s latest missile test and a troop brawl at a disputed border point, analysts said.
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India said it successfully conducted another test of its Agni-5 missile on Thursday, a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile. It is believed to have a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), which according to Indian reports, puts almost all of China within its reach.

The Agni-5 is seen by many as Delhi’s attempt to strengthen its nuclear deterrence against China.

India’s Ministry of Defence said the test built on “credible minimum deterrence” that underpinned the state’s commitment to its “no first use” nuclear policy, according to Indian news agency ANI, citing defence sources.

“This nuclear deterrence [of India’s] is actually an ‘existential deterrence’ – that is to say, it seems to have it, but in fact it doesn’t have actual combat capabilities,” said Zhou Chenming, a researcher from the Yuan Wang military science and technology think tank.

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He said the Agni-5 still had limited capability since its maximum explosive yield was only about one-third that of similar weapons from larger nuclear powers like the United States, China, and Russia.

Zhou said China had unique anti-missile technologies and advanced interception capability that India did not have. But he did not expect China to overreact to Thursday’s test as it did not want tensions with India to escalate following the recent border clash.
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