India test fires cruise missile

India successfully test-fired its Brahmos supersonic anti-ship cruise missile today, Press Trust of India news agency reported.

The test from a ship in the Bay of Bengal off the eastern coast of Orissa state was the sixth in a series, PTI quoted defence ministry officials as saying.

The Brahmos, jointly developed with Russia, has a target range of 290 kilometres (180 miles) and can carry up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of conventional warheads.

India says such tests – especially of non-nuclear capable missiles – are routine procedures any country performs to prepare its armoury or induct new weapons.

Western nations have been trying to persuade nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan to avoid an arms race in the region.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over control of northern Kashmir, since they won independence from Britain in 1947. They came close to another conflict in 1999.

Pakistan conducted a series of missile tests last month.