NEW DELHI, March 6: India’s defence ministry said it successfully shot down a missile on Sunday in a test of a home-grown missile interception system. The interceptor missile destroyed a medium-range missile over the Bay of Bengal after the missile had been fired from a test site in the eastern state of Orissa, ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said.

“It hit the target missile at an altitude of about 10 miles (16 kilometres),” Mr Kar said.

A test of the system last March was unsuccessful, with the interceptor missile failing to take off.

Sunday’s exercise tested the system’s ability to track, intercept and destroy incoming missiles and was part of a series of trials, he said.

Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan usually notify each other ahead of major missile tests, in keeping with an agreement between the two nations.

It was not immediately known whether India informed Pakistan about Sunday’s test.—AP