Airliner 'avoids' Indian missile

An Indonesian passenger jet was forced to turn round in Indian airspace to avoid a nuclear-capable missile test flight, the Indonesian government says.

The Indonesian foreign ministry has demanded an explanation from India over the incident.

Officials from Garuda airlines say they received no advance notice of the test.

The Indian government says it successfully test-fired the Agni-III surface-to-surface missile off the country's eastern coast on Thursday.

'Great expense'

"Usually closed airspace is alerted to international authorities but the fact is, our plane flew and had to return," Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Kristiarto Legowo told reporters in Jakarta.

"We will summon India's diplomat here soon to seek official clarification," he said.

"We have to make sure this does not happen in the future."

The Garuda airliner was carrying 413 Muslim pilgrims from the capital, Jakarta, to Saudi Arabia, when the Indian control tower told pilots the missile had been launched, said Ari Sapari, the national carrier's director.

"We were not given any advance warning about this missile test," he told the AP news agency.

"This was obviously confusing and worrying. It also caused us to disrupt an international flight schedule - a great financial expense."

Rocketed skyward

The Boeing 747 immediately returned to Jakarta and took off again for Jeddah seven hours later, he said.

Another Garuda plane bound for Riyadh also had to delay its departure because of the test.

Indonesian officials say that details of the incident may now be passed on to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The jet's exact location in relation to the missile, which trailed orange and yellow smoke as it rocketed skyward, had not yet been made public.

There has so far been no response from India to the Indonesian complaints.

On Thursday it was announced that the Agni III - India's longest range missile - had been successfully test-fired.

The missile is designed to reach 3,000 km (1,900 miles) and puts China's major cities well into range, as well as targets deep in the Middle East.

The missile was launched from Wheeler Island off the eastern state of Orissa and is also said to be capable of carrying up to a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead.