The Indian government has decided to hand over the country's short and medium range nuclear capable missiles to the army for immediate operational deployment, according to the Indian Express, a national English newspaper in India, on Tuesday.

India's Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had cleared the raising of two "Agni" missile groups and the army headquarters have named the rocket groups as 334 Missile Group, which will be armed with the 700 km short range "Agni" I missile, and the 335 Missile Group, which would field the 1,500 km medium range "Agni" II missile, the paper said.

The actual raising of these new units, for which the army has already earmarked manpower, is expected to begin near Secunderabadin Andhara Pradesh where Bharat Dynamics, the manufacturer of these missiles, is located.

According to the paper, Indian defense minister George Fernandes had announced that the government had given the go-ahead for the induction of both the "Agni" I and "Agni" II missiles.

The government has also cleared the raising of two new "Prithvi" groups for the army, which would be named 444 and 555 missile groups.

The army already has two "Prithvi" missile groups, namely 222 and 333.

(Xinhua News Agency September 24, 2003)