Successful test-firing of India’s Agni-5 evokes no fury

BANGKOK (IDN): The successful launch of the nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Agni-5 on January 18 has hardly been noticed in Asia. The western media, however, have given it coverage, focusing on India’s ability now to strike major Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai.

This partly adulatory coverage is in sharp contrast to hysteria in the western media, in particular when North Korea tested a similar missile on November 28, 2017. While North Korea’s tests are projected as threats to global denuclearization efforts, India’s are not.