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India Sunday successfully carried out its first test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a range of 4,000 kilometers, defence officials said.

The Agni-III missile was launched from Wheeler Island, 180 kilometers northeast of Bhubaneshwar in the eastern state of Orissa, they said on condition of anonymity.

In May Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said the Agni-III, India's longest-range ballistic missile, was ready but that the country was observing "self-imposed restraint" before testing.

Opposition parties criticized the announcement, saying testing was being delayed because of pressure from the United States. New Delhi and Washington reached a landmark deal in March that will see sanctions lifted on India's access to civilian nuclear technology.

Sunday's test launch comes just four days after North Korea sparked an international outcry by test-firing seven missiles.

A highly-placed Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) source said the Indian test was "successful."

He said scientists had detected a snag in the booster rocket system of the Agni-III two weeks ago and had delayed its test. "Now we have papered over the problem and hence the launch window was chosen as Sunday," he said.

The missile was tracked during take-off, re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and splashdown in the Bay of Bengal, another defence official said.

The Agni is one of five missiles being developed by the DRDO under its Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme launched in 1983. The others are the Prithvi, the surface-to-air Trishul (Trident), multi-purpose Akash (Sky), and the anti-tank Nag (Cobra).

India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since independence in 1947, routinely notify each other of missile tests.

The two countries came to the brink of a fourth war in the summer of 2002 following a December 2001 attack on India's parliament by suspected Pakistan-backed militants. Islamabad denied any role in the attack.

But in January 2004 the two sides began a peace process that has led to a ceasefire in the divided Himalayan state of Kashmir, the cause of two of the wars.

C. Uday Bhaskar, deputy head of the government funded Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, said India's nuclear and missile programs should not be seen as country specific.

"Countries acquire strategic capabilities that are of generic nature. Our program is not predicated on a single point threat. It is always in relation to the international strategic environment," Bhaskar said.

(China Daily July 10, 2006)