India to put up a missile shield in two years' time

New Delhi: India will start putting up a missile shield in two years' time, India's top missile scientist and DRDO's Chief Controller, Dr V K Saraswat announced on Monday.

"We want to do this program in two phases. This is going to be our mainstay," said Dr Saraswat.

This is expected to blunt serious nuclear threats to India from Pakistan, China and even non-state actors.

The shield will intercept nuclear missiles fired by an enemy and will put India in the same league as the US, Russia and Israel.

Within two minutes of detection of an attack, an interceptor missile can be launched to block the enemy missile.

The first phase will enable India to intercept intermediate ballistic missiles like Pakistan's Hatf and Ghauri series, which have a range of 1,500 km.

However, the second phase appears more China-specific, capable of blocking out 5,000 km missiles.