Agni-V, India's first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) has been test-fired successfully on Thursday from Balasore Test Range in Odisha. With this India joins the elite group of exclusive ICBM club that consists US, Russia,China, France and UK as its members.

The solid-fuelled over 5,000-km range Agni-V, which will bring the whole of China as well as other regions under its strike envelope, was tested from Balasore off the Odisha coast at 8.07 am. ''We have met all our mission objectives,'' said a jubilant DRD0 chief controller of missiles, Avinash Chander. The nuclear-capable, three-stage Agni-V, about 50-tonne in weight and 17.5-metre tall, will become fully operational by 2014-2015 after "four to five repeatable tests" and user trials.

India, of course, cannot at present match China in terms of its vast nuclear and missile arsenals. But missiles like Agni-V and the 3,500-km Agni-IV, tested last November, will certainly add teeth to its credible minimum nuclear deterrence posture. The Agni missiles will get deadlier once MIRV (multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicles) payloads for them are developed. An MIRV payload on a missile carries several nuclear warheads, which can be programmed to hit different targets. A flurry of such missiles can hence completely overwhelm BMD (ballistic missile defence) systems.