Given the incendiary moniker ''the China killer'' by the more sensationalist press, India's newest nuclear-capable missile will be its most powerful yet, and an unmistakable signal to its neighbours.

Agni V - formally named after the Hindu god of fire and acceptor of sacrifices - is set to be tested within three months.

On target: India's ballistic missile arsenal is set to be strengthened. Credit:AP

It will be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead 5000 kilometres, meaning it can reach not only Beijing and Shanghai, but all of northern China. India's existing arsenal can already reach every corner of Pakistan.

Indian officials are at pains to reiterate the country's ''no first strike'' policy, but the newly muscular armoury is feeding regional anxieties about an arms race. Foreign Policy magazine identified India's military build-up as one of the major overlooked stories of 2011.