NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, a government statement said, in an apparent show of strength ahead of a threatened US tariff increase.

The Agni-5 missile was successfully launched in India’s eastern Odisha state, with authorities saying it “validated all operational and technical parameters.” The test-fire came a week before US tariffs are set to double from 25 per cent to 50pc, unless India meets President Donald Trump’s demand that it stop buying Russian oil.

India last tested the Agni-5 missile in March 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this month that, in the face of US tariffs, India was seeking self-reliance with energy independence and the development of its own defence systems.

New Delhi has deepened defence cooperation with Western countries in recent years, including in the Quad alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia as an apparent counter to rival China.

But India’s relations with China have warmed recently with several bilateral visits, and Modi is scheduled to visit Tianjin later this month in his first visit to the country since 2018. Agni, meaning “fire” in Sanskrit, is the name given to a series of rockets India developed as part of a guided missile development project launched in 1983.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2025