The 17-metre (56-foot) Agni V, with a range of more than 5,000 kilometres (3,100 miles), was launched at8:05(0235 GMT) from a test site off the eastern state of Orissa, according to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which built the missile.

"I am announcing the successful launch of Agni V... making history and making our country proud in the area of missile technology," DRDO head V.K. Saraswat told the NDTV news channel.

"We are today a missile power unmatching to most in the world," Saraswat said.

Indiaviews the 50-tonne Agni V as a major boost to its regional power aspirations and one that narrows -- albeit slightly -- the huge gap withChina's technologically advanced missile systems.

A successful test leaves India knocking at the door of a select club of nations with inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with ranges of thousands of kilometres.

Currently only the five permanent members of the UN Security Council --Britain,China, France,Russiaand theUnited States-- possess a declared ICBM capability.