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India was preparing to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile capable of hitting targets deep inside China, high-placed sources said here Friday.

The sources from the defence research organisation said the earliest probable launch of Agni-III, with a range of 3,000 kilometres (1,860 miles), would be after the end of the Indian monsoon in September.

The missile can carry a one-tonne nuclear warhead, they said, but did not elaborate on the nature of the weapon or its possible yield in terms of megatons.

On Thursday, India's chief defence scientist V.K. Aatre made a similar announcement but without giving details.

"Hopefully, we will test the missile by the end of this year," Atre told reporters during an international airshow in the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

A US State Department spokeswoman in Washington said she was "disappointed" at the move, adding that it would raise tensions in South Asia.

"We have said frequently in the past that we are disappointed by ballistic missile tests in South Asia," said spokeswoman Tara Riggler.

"Such tests contribute to regional tension and make it harder to prevent a costly amd destabilizing nuclear arms and missile race. Such a race would be a further threat to regional and international security.

"We continue to urge both India and Pakistan to take steps to restrain their nuclear weapons and missile programs including no operational deployment of nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, and to begin dialogue on confidence-building measures that could reduce the likelihood that such weapons would never be used. This could be part of a broader dialogue to reduce tensions."

Indian experts said the test is part of a project to bolster national security and are not aimed at provoking an arms race with nuclear rival Pakistan.

India last month carried out three short- and medium-range missile tests in 11 days, attracting sharp criticism from Islamabad, which has generally followed such an event with a rival launch of one of its own nuclear-capable missiles.

Already-soured ties are likely to worsen further as India is planning to accelerate the pace of a 20-year-old project to locally develop warhead delivery systems with experiments with new missiles, military sources said. 

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