ISLAMABAD, April 19: Pakistan successfully carried out on Tuesday the first test flight of a nuclear-capable and short-range ballistic missile, which is believed to have been developed in response to India’s military doctrine called “Cold Start”.

The short-range and surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Hatf IX (Nasr), has a range of 60km.

The missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads for delivery over short ranges is said to possess ‘shoot and scoot’ attributes, which refer to the military tactic of firing at a target with accuracy and immediately relocating to another position to avoid counter-fire from enemy positions.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, while announcing the successful test at an undisclosed location, said: “This quick response system addresses the need to deter evolving threats,” a clear reference to India’s military doctrine.“The missile has been developed to add deterrence value to Pakistan’s strategic weapons development programme at shorter ranges,” it said.

Hatf IX (Nasr) is one of the very few missiles of this range. The closest comparison is that of the American MGM-52 Lance missiles with 70-120-km range, which were withdrawn from Europe after the US and USSR signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987.

The development of the missile was being seen as a major achievement by defence analysts in terms of miniaturisation of warheads because of sophistication involved in it.

India’s Cold Start doctrine, expounded in 2004, had added to Pakistan’s unease vis-à-vis its neighbour. The Pakistani military in response to the Indian doctrine has formulated its ‘new war fighting concept’.

India’s doctrine envisages division of its offensive capability into eight smaller integrated battle groups (IBGs) that could be deployed in 72 hours during crisis and would have the capability of infiltrating Pakistan with limited goals in terms of distance and duration.