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Chinese media carried both stern and petty responses to India's test launch yesterday of a nuclear-capable missile that could reach Beijing, but official Chinese government responses indicate that China does not want to drive up tensions with India over the launch.

"China and India are both emerging countries, we are not rivals but cooperation partners," said Liu Weimin, China's foreign ministry spokesman, according to CNN. "We believe the two countries should cherish the hard-won momentum of sound bilateral relations, promote bilateral friendship and cooperation, and make active contributions to regional peace and stability."

The Agni-V missile, as it is called, can travel 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles), which puts both Beijing and Shanghai in range. China is already capable of reaching India with its own missiles.  

The New York Times portrayed the launch as a development in a regional "arms race," headlining its report, "Signs of an Asian Arms Buildup in India's Missile Test."

But the launch seemed to receive only perfunctory mentions in Pakistani media. India has long had missiles capable of reaching any place in Pakistan, so yesterday's demonstration of Indian capabilities did not change the calculus of India-Pakistan relations.

And while an editorial in China's Global Times, a daily newspaper owned by the ruling Communist Party, cautioned India against "being swept up by missile delusion," it also signaled Beijing's desire for regional cooperation.

Zhang Zhaozhong, a professor at the People's Liberation Army National Defense University, told the Global Times that the Agni-V could be enhanced to reach 8,000 kilometers.

Another expert speculated that India already has that capability, but chose not to disclose it. According to India, the Agni-V can travel 5,000 kilometers.

"The Agni-V actually has the potential to reach targets 8,000 kilometers away, but the Indian government had deliberately downplayed the missile's capability in order to avoid causing concern to other countries," Du Wenlong, a researcher at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences, told the Global Times.

The Hindustan Times reports that CCTV, a Chinese TV station, emphasized that it would take years for India to "operationalize" the Agni-V because it lacked a high-precision guidance system for the missile or the ability to transport it.

Indeed, several Indian defense analysts told Agence France-Presse that while India joined an elite club with yesterday's launch, it indicates less about India's military progress than many think because the capability to launch one rocket is very different than the capability to use them defensively. 

Rahul Bedi, a global security analyst, told AFP that India's political leadership doesn't understand how to capitalize on the country's scientific breakthroughs and how to use them strategically.

The Agni-V requires several more tests before production can begin and it can be added to India's arsenal, and that is unlikely to happen before 2014, or even 2015.

Li Baodong, China's permanent representative to the UN, took the floor at the United Nations Security Council yesterday to express his country's support for further non-proliferation cooperation, the Hindustan Times reports.

The Associated Press notes that the international community's low-key response to India's missile launch is particularly notable because it came a week after world powers sharply condemned North Korea for a rocket launch of its own. The opposing reactions "show how the world has grown to accept India as a responsible and stable nuclear power," according to AP.

When India first tested a nuclear bomb in 1974, the US put it under sanctions for 25 years. It lifted those sanctions last decade, and in 2008 effectively recognized India as a nuclear power, according to AP.