India's Agni-5 can target our Harbin city: Chinese daily

BEIJING: Agni-5, India's latest long-range nuclear-capable missile under development, can target China's northernmost city of Harbin, a leading Chinese newspaper has claimed amid a slew of strident anti-India articles over the status of Arunachal Pradesh.

"India's Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) has made its forthcoming Agni-5 missile highly road-mobile, or easily transportable by road, which would bring Harbin, China's northernmost city within striking range if the Agni-5 is moved to northeast India," the People's Daily reported.

Harbin is the capital of China's Heilongjiang Province. The paper, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, noted that the Agni-5 which has a range of 5,000 km is similar to the Dongfeng-31A showcased during China's National Day Military Parade on October 1 in Beijing.



India is going to test-fire the missile in early 2011, the report claimed.

The report came two days after China raked up its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, questioning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit there on October 3.

Reacting strongly to the Chinese objection to Singh's visit, India said the comments were disappointing as the state is an inalienable part of the country and such remarks do "not help" the process of talks on boundary issue.

A number of state-run Chinese papers have stepped up rhetoric against India on the boundary issue through their articles.