India has successfully launched a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead, officials say.

印度成功发射一枚可以携带核弹头的洲际弹道导弹。

The locally-developed Agni-V missile was originally scheduled to launch on Wednesday in the eastern state of Orissa.

Officials had delayed the launch because of heavy lightning in the area.

The missile has a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), within range of targets in China.

Analysts² say the Agni (meaning "fire" in Hindi and Sanskrit) missile family is to be the cornerstone（基础，柱石） of India's missile-based nuclear deterrent³.

The missiles are among the country's most sophisticated weapons.

In 2010, India successfully test-fired Agni-II, an intermediate-range ballistic missile with a range of more than 2,000km (1,250 miles).

The Agni-V missile was launched from Orissa's Wheeler Island at 0805 local time on Thursday.

"It was a perfect launch. It met all the test parameters⁴ and hit its pre-determined⁵ target," SP Das, director of the test range, told the BBC.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh congratulated the scientists for the "successful launch" of the missile.

"Today's launch represents another milestone⁶ in our quest for our security, preparedness and to explore the frontiers of science," he said.

'Deterrent'

The missile took about 20 minutes to hit its target somewhere near Indonesia in the Indian Ocean.

Defence analyst¹ Rahul Bedi says a successful test flight of the Agni-V missile, which is capable of delivering a single 1.5-ton warhead deep inside nuclear rival China's territory, would strengthen India's nuclear deterrence⁷（威慑） once it comes into service by 2014-15.

It is 17.5m tall, solid-fuelled, has three stages and a launch weight of 50 tons. It has cost more than 2.5bn rupees ($480m; £307m) to develop.

Only China, Russia, France, the US and UK have such long-range missiles. Israel is thought to possess them.

"Agni-V is to meet our present-day threat perceptions, which are determined by our defence forces and other agencies," DRDO Ravi Gupta spokesman told AFP news agency ahead of the launch.

"This is a deterrent to avoid wars and it is not country-specific," he said.