Pakistan successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missile early yesterday, saying it was the first of several such tests to be conducted over the next several days, the army said.
The Hatf-III Ghaznavi missile reportedly has a range of 290km and can carry conventional and non-conventional weapons. It is considered a short-range missile, but can hit many important targets inside Pakistan's rival neighbor, India.
"We have successfully test-fired the Hatf-III," said army spokesman General Shaukat Sultan. The army later released a statement saying that India and other neighboring countries were informed before the test, and that it was the first of "a series" to be conducted in coming days.
In New Delhi, the Indian Defense Ministry had no immediate comment on the Pakistani missile test.
Sultan would not say where the test was conducted.
The missile test came with Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali in the middle of a visit to the US, and two days after he met with US President George. W. Bush at the White House. The two leaders reportedly discussed terrorism, the Kashmir situation and Washington's desire for Pakistan to contribute peacekeeping troops to Iraq.
India and Pakistan have frequently used missile tests as a form of diplomatic muscle-flexing.
Pakistan, however, denied the test was linked to politics.
"The timings of the tests reflect Pakistan's determination not to engage in a tit-for-tat syndrome to other tests in the region," an army statement said. "Pakistan will maintain the pace of its own missile development program and conduct tests as per its technical needs."
Pakistan's last missile test came on March 26, when it fired off a short-range missile shortly after India announced a similar test.
In 1998, the two countries conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests, shocking the world and earning years of sanctions.
Relations between Pakistan and India had been thought to be on the mend after Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said in April that he sought peace talks over matters including the flashpoint issue of Kashmir.
But talks haven't gotten off the ground, and officials on both sides have resumed the name-calling and mudslinging that have so often characterized the two nations' relationship.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is split between them but claimed by both in its entirety.
They nearly came to blows again last year, each rushing hundreds of thousands of troops to the border before international mediation brought them back from the brink.
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