`India`s missile tech a decade behind that of China`: expert

Beijing, Feb 14 (PTI) Despite India's advances in
missile technology, the country is still a decade behind
China, a top Chinese defence analyst has claimed and asserted
that Beijing does not view New Delhi as its "strategic rival."
Shrugging off concerns that newer versions of India's
Agni missiles could strike the northernmost tips of China, the
state-run Global Times, quoting a top analyst said India may
take five more years to achieve this capability.
The analyst also dismissed the claims that India is far
ahead of China in developing interceptor technology, the paper
said this week, days after India tested the Agni- III, which
has a 3,500 km range.
Chinese Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, a professor at the
prestigious Chinese National Defence University, said India is
still 10 to 15 years behind China in terms of missile
technology.
"It's still unknown when the Agni-III will be deployed
by the Indian army, though they claim the missile is ready for
use. And it might take at least another five years to ready
the Agni-V," Zhang was quoted as saying.
He also claimed that China did not see India as a
strategic rival, and developed weapons to counter it.
"In developing its military technology, China has never
taken India as a strategic rival, and none of its weapons were
specifically designed to contain India," the Global Times
quoted Zhang as saying. (MORE) PTI