ISLAMABAD, 13 October 2004 — Pakistan conducted yesterday its fourth test this year of a nuclear-capable missile, test firing the intermediate Ghauri missile which can hit targets deep inside India.
“Pakistan this morning carried out another successful test of the indigenously produced intermediate range Ballistic Missile Hatf V (Ghauri),” a military statement said.
The Hatf V (Ghauri), with a range of 1,500 kilometers (932 miles), was test fired as “part of a series of tests planned for the Ghauri missile system.”
“The test completely validated all the design parameters,” the statement said, adding the Ghauri “can carry nuclear and other warheads.” The Hatf V was tested twice earlier this year, on May 29 and June 4 and the long-range Shaheen missile was tested on March 9.
Neighboring states were notified beforehand, it added, and an Indian official in New Delhi said it had been informed in advance of the test in accordance with agreed protocols.
The tests this year have been seen less as saber-rattling against India, with whom Pakistan is in the middle of a step-by-step peace process, and more for domestic consumption.
Military analyst and retired Gen. Talat Masood said Pakistan had to aggressively pursue its nuclear and missile program to offset the conventional military imbalance with archrival India.
“The test also coincides with the fifth anniversary of Gen. Musharraf in power,” Masood said. The Ghauri is believed to be based on North Korea’s Nodong missile. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, military top brass and scientists witnessed the test at an undisclosed site, the military statement said.
President Pervez Musharraf in July foreshadowed an “extremely important substantive” missile test in the following months, as he responded to speculation that Pakistan might roll back its nuclear and missile programs under pressure from Washington.
