Such a distance would nearly double the military's current strike range, putting targets even in Europe within reach, and came one day after neighbouring Pakistan tested a nuclear capable cruise missile.

M. Natarajan, who heads the Indian government's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), said flight tests of Agni-IV ballistic missiles would begin within months.

"We want to repeat the tests and we have plans for a minimum two such repeats," Natarajan told India's Times Now private television network.

"One, sometime within the first quarter of next year, and another within nine to 12 months," said the chief of the DRDO, which has been developing India's missile arsenal since 1983.

"Although I won't say the exact figure I would reckon the figure of 5,000 to 6,000 kilometres should be quite adequate for the country's needs."

V. K. Sarswat, head of the DRDO's strategic systems branch, confirmed the Agni-IV was under development while other scientists told AFP it was likely to be fully operational within three years.

India in April tested its longest-range Agni-III missile, capable of reaching targets 3,500 kilometres inside neighbouring China, with Saraswat saying the weapon was being further upgraded.

New Delhi has already deployed two variants of the Agni -- a 700-kilometre (434-mile) Agni-I and the 2,500-kilometre (1,550-mile) range Agni-II after flight-testing both missiles numerous times since 1993.

The comments by the DRDO officials followed rival Pakistan's announcement that it had tested a nuclear-capable cruise missile, vowing a strong response to any international attempt to seize its atomic arsenal.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed northern territory of Kashmir. The two countries are currently engaged in peace talks over a range of bilateral issues, including Kashmir, but both have continued a military build-up.

Saraswat also announced two tests earlier this month of Indian manufactured interceptor missiles, saying they performed better than Patriot air-defence batteries manufactured by US defence group Raytheon.

Work on the two separate nuclear-capable missile interception systems began in 1998 and despite technology refusals by Western powers they will be ready by 2010, he said.

"The effectiveness of the system would depend on how much can we spend on it but it is required by a country like ours as we have a no-first-use (nuclear strike) principle," the scientist said.

Saraswat said the missile defence shield, backed by a string of coastline radars and high-end monitoring systems, would also make it almost impossible for hostile aircraft to penetrate Indian airspace.

"It is a defensive posture and so it doesn't alter the balance (of power) in the region," he said, after two 1.2-tonne interceptors shot down two incoming ballistic missiles in the Bay of Bengal in two tests earlier this month.

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