Pakistan successfully tested the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Hatf V (Ghauri) capable of carrying nuclear warheads
Pakistan test-fires medium range nuclear missile
NEW DELHI, India, Oct. 12 -- Pakistan successfully test-fired the Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Hatf V (Ghauri) capable of carrying nuclear warheads and part of the Ghauri Missile System on Tuesday morning, the official Pakistani news agency reported.
Defence officials said the exercise involving the ballistic missile is one of a series of tests planned to boost its defenses and not intended as a message to its rival India.
An official says Pakistani authorities had informed India and other neighboring countries beforehand about the test, and that it was not aimed at inflaming tensions in South Asia.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan conducts regular missile tests, despite a revived peace process with nuclear rival India. The last time Pakistan test-fired a nuclear-capable missile was on June 4.
Pakistan became a declared nuclear power on May 28, 1998, when it conducted underground nuclear tests, in response to earlier tests carried out by India.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Ehsan ul Haq besides other senior military officers and scientists witnessed the test of the surface-to-surface missile, which has a range of 1,500 km (940 miles) reported the agency. In March, Pakistan test-fired the Shaheen II ballistic missile with a range of 1,250 miles. It said the missile was capable of carrying nuclear warheads to every corner of India.
Pakistan tested its first nuclear bomb in 1998 and says its weapons program is a response to that of India, with which it has fought three wars since both countries won independence from Britain in 1947.
"The test completely validated all the design parameters. The successful fight test bears testimony to the fact that the Ghauri Weapon System is based on the highest standards of scientific and technological advancements," the report quoted a military press release as saying.
The missile incorporates highly refined guidance and control systems and superior technology capable of achieving the greatest accuracy.
President General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have expressed satisfaction at the outstanding results achieved and complimented the scientists and engineers, the report said.
