Pakistan nuke-capable missile test
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-05-29 14:12

Pakistan has test launched a medium-range nuclear-capable missile, according to a military spokesman.

Earlier in the year, Pakistan tested the longer range Shaheen II missile.

The government alerted its neighbors, including India, before it conducted the test Saturday morning.

Pakistan had planned the test for the past few weeks.

The missile tested was a Ghauri (Hatf V) which has a range of 1,500 kilometers (932 miles).

In March, Pakistan test-fired a Hatf VI (Shaheen II) with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles).

Last year, Pakistan and India conducted a series of missile tests, raising fears of a heightened arms race between the two South Asian rivals.

But since then tensions have eased between the nuclear neighbors.

Since achieving independence from Britain in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.

In mid-2002 the two countries stood on the brink of a fourth war amid tensions over what India said was Pakistani support for Islamic militants carrying out terrorist attacks on Indian soil.

Pakistan denies the Indian charges, saying it only gives moral support to groups advocating the right of the Kashmiri people to self-determination.

In recent months, the two sides have taken steps towards easing tensions, re-establishing full diplomatic ties and reconnecting transport links.

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