NEW DELHI India denied on Friday a recent report that it had ordered the production of 300 surface-to-surface, nuclear-capable Prithvi missiles.
Defence Ministry Spokesman P.S.Bhatnagar described as "baseless" a news report that said Defense Minister George Fernandes had last month approved the production of 300 Indian-developed Prithvi missiles. "A report has appeared in a section of the press about defense minister approving production of 300 Prithvi missiles for defense forces on 25th of last month," the spokesman said.
"It is emphatically stated that no such decision has been taken by the defense minister," he added. The Prithvi missile, which Western experts say is nuclear-capable, is part of India's decade-old integrated guided missile-development program.
One version of Prithvi, with a range of 93 miles (149 km), has been adopted by the army, while a version for the air force with a range of 150 miles (240 km) is at an advanced stage of development.
A third version is also being developed for the navy but no details have been made available. Prithvi is widely seen as a deterrent to Pakistan which has also been pursuing a nuclear and missile development program.
(Reuter)