India’s fiery, successful test of a long-range missile capable of
lofting nuclear warheads across oceans demonstrates New Delhi’s driving
determination to be counted among the Great Powers. Already the world’s
biggest democracy, India’s fast-growing economy has just overtaken
Japan’s to rank third after the United States and China. Long the
dominant South Asian regional power, India has dramatically upped its
aspirations in recent years. It clearly wants to be regarded – along
with China, the United States and, perhaps, a resurgent Russia – as
among the handful of 21st-century “great powers” capable of
projecting power, enforcing peace and, if need be, waging war far beyond its
borders. Military might is only part, albeit a vital measure, of great power
status. And with Thursday’s launch, India added another key piece in
the arsenal of power projection. Nuclear warheads, multistage rockets capable
of delivering those warheads half-way around the world, a navy with aircraft
carriers able to project air power distantly and nuclear submarines, all are
characteristic of modern “great powers.” Only five countries
– Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – have
long laid claim to the status with any credibility. Not coincidentally, they
are also the five, veto-wielding permanent members of the United Nations
Security Council. Any one can block international collective military action
with a veto.
