Cannot execute mvn release:prepare

Question

I have a simple project with just one class file and one junit test file. Trying and testing a release using mvn release:prepare but fetting following exception while executing the following command. I have SVN server installed but on a different Windows machine. I do have the SVN client (TortoiseSVN) installed on the current machine.

Can anybody please guide as to what am I missing ?

[ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-release-plugin:2.0:prepare (default-cli) on project maven-svn-release: Unable to check for local modifications
[ERROR] Provider message:
[ERROR] The svn command failed.
[ERROR] Command output:
[ERROR] 'svn' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
[ERROR] operable program or batch file.
[ERROR] -> [Help 1]
[ERROR]
[ERROR] To see the full stack trace of the errors, re-run Maven with the -e switch.
[ERROR] Re-run Maven using the -X switch to enable full debug logging.

pom.xml configuration:

<scm>
    <connection>scm:svn:https://gsi-541243.gsiccorp.net/svn/maven-rnd/maven-svn-release/trunk</connection>
    <developerConnection>scm:svn:https://gsi-541243.gsiccorp.net/svn/maven-rnd/maven-svn-release/trunk</developerConnection>
    <url>https://gsi-541243.gsiccorp.net/svn/maven-rnd/maven-svn-release/trunk</url>
</scm> 


<build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-release-plugin</artifactId>
            <configuration>
                <tagBase>https://gsi-541243.gsiccorp.net/svn/maven-rnd/maven-svn-release/tags</tagBase>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>