India parades brand-new intercontinental ballistic missile

India used its annual Republic Day parade to display its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missile, just hours after the country’s president made loaded comments about its relationship with long-time antagonist Pakistan.

Republic Day, nominally a national holiday celebrating the introduction of a constitution following independence, is traditionally a display of nationalistic fervor, capped by a massive procession showing off all the latest military hardware.

The pride of place this year was taken by Agni-V, a new-generation missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads as far as China and central Russia, which has been developed at a cost of more than half a billion US dollars. Although the missile underwent a successful test launch in August last year, this was the first time it has been shown to the wider public.

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