NEW DELHI - India condemned North Korea's long-range rocket launch
on Wednesday even as it tested one of its own ballistic weapons, which
were developed when India was a nuclear pariah itself.
"India expresses its concern at the launch of a rocket... in violation
of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874. India calls on DPRK
to refrain from such actions," a foreign ministry statement.
"This unwarranted action... has adversely impacted peace and stability
in the Korean Peninsula," it added about the launch which provoked
global outrage and triggered plans for an emergency session of the UN
Security Council.
Earlier Wednesday, defense
scientists successfully test-fired India's medium-range nuclear-capable
"Agni I" missile from a site off the eastern coast of the country.
The missile, which has been tested repeatedly before, has a range of
700 kilometers (420 miles), capable of hitting targets in regional rival
Pakistan.
India was subject to US-led sanctions
on its nuclear program after its first atomic test in 1974. These were
hardened in 1998 when New Delhi declared itself a nuclear weapons state
after conducting five test nuclear explosions.
New Delhi refuses to sign the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
Treaty (NPT) and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), which it
views as discriminatory and in favor of existing nuclear powers.
Following efforts to be compliant with these international agreements,
in 2008 it received a waiver from the countries party to the Nuclear
Suppliers Group, giving it access to foreign civilian nuclear technology
and resources.
In April this year, India
test-fired the "Agni V" missile for the first time which has a range of
more than 5,000 kilometers and is capable of delivering a one-tonne
nuclear warhead anywhere in rival China.
The
test provoked little concern or condemnation, which many analysts said
pointed to India's acceptance as a responsible user of nuclear and
missile technology.
Nuclear-armed North Korea
insisted that its rocket launch was a purely peaceful scientific project
designed to place a satellite in orbit.
But the
United States and allies South Korea and Japan view it as a disguised
ballistic missile test banned under the UN resolutions triggered by its
nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. —Agence France-Presse
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