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ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Pakistan on Friday test-fired a short-range missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads. More such tests will follow in the next few days.
An ISPR statement said the test of the surface-to-surface Hatf III Ghaznavi ballistic missile was a success.
“This was second test of the Ghaznavi missile which is capable of carrying all types of warheads accurately to the range of 290 kilometres.”
The missile test is Pakistan’s second this year, and the first in a series in the coming days, a spokesman said.
The high data collected indicates that all design parameters have been successfully validated. The test was part of a series of tests to be conducted in the next few days to validate the design parameters of various missile systems, the spokesman said.
“The timing of the tests reflect Pakistan’s determination not to engage in a tit for tat syndrome to other tests in the region,” the spokesman said.
Pakistan will maintain the pace of its own missile development programme and conduct tests as per its technical needs. Prior notification of this test had been given to neighbouring countries.
FERNANDES: India’s Defence Minister George Fernandes shrugged off Pakistan’s test-firing on Friday of a short-range nuclear-capable missile, AFP adds.
“There is nothing special about it. It has to be seen whether the missile is their own or provided by North Korea or China,” the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Fernandes as saying in New Delhi.
India’s defence ministry said that Pakistan had given advance notice of its intention to test its indigenously developed surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf III Ghaznavi.
“They met the due notification, which is required before such test-firing of missiles,” defence spokesman Amitabh Chakravarty said.
