India's Agni-VI and the world's new nuclear nightmare |
For decades, India has occupied a comfortable position in the Western imagination - the so-called world's largest democracy, a strategic partner and a net security provider in the region. That flattering portrait has encouraged a habit of looking away from inconvenient evidence.
Today, that habit is becoming dangerous. India's pursuit of the Agni-VI intercontinental ballistic missile, as recently stated by the Chairman of India's Defence Research and Development Organisation, with a reported range of up to 12,000 km, is not merely a technological milestone. It is a strategic signal - and the world is not yet reading it clearly enough.
A missile with a 12,000 km range signals a potential inflexion point in New Delhi's nuclear thinking - one that may extend beyond focusing on regional dominance to global nuclear blackmailing. Agni VI's range is not built to deter regional actors but to reach Washington, London and Paris.
No honest strategic analyst can conclude that India's nuclear ambitions remain........