India on Monday successfully testfired two nuclear-capable short-range ballistic missile Prithvi 2 from Chandipur in the eastern Indian state of Orissa's Balasore district, Defense Ministry sources said.

The two missiles were testfired first at 10:30 a.m. and later at an interval of five minutes, the sources said.

"The missiles, developed for the Indian Army, were testfired under the supervision of scientists from the Defense Research and Development Organization. The Indian Army's special contingent conducted the test of the missiles. The tests went well only to prove its capability of carrying nuclear warheads," the sources said.

The highly sophisticated surface-to-surface Prithvi 2 missile has a range of 350 km and is a tactical ballistic missile developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organization under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.

Two versions of the missiles have already been deployed with the army and air force. Monday's test was conducted in the presence of several scientists including senior DRDO official V.K. Saraswat who is also scientific adviser to India's defence minister, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

The tests were described as part of an "user trial" and "a text book launch", the news service quoted S.P. Dash, director of the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, some 230 km from state capital Bhubaneswar, as saying.

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