India has emerged as a major missile power with the successful launch of Agni V ballistic missile and the production of the weapon system would start ina year's time, DRDO chief V K Saraswat said today. 

"This launch has given a message to the entire world that India has the capability to design, develop, build and manufacture missiles of this class, and we are today a missilepower," Saraswat said after the launch of the 5000 km range surface-to-surface Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). 

The Defence Research and Development Organisation chief said that the missile launch was a major milestone in the strategic defence preparedness of the country. 

"We are going to conduct two more tests and that will be validation tests..., and then the production of this system will start. It is going to take an year maximum," he said. 

Saraswat said that he expected the missile to be inductedinto the armed forces in the next two years. He said the successful launch of Agni V was just the beginning of a new series of missiles.