Islamabad test-fires nuclear capable ballistic missile

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan test-fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile on Monday, the military said, less than a week after the first high-level talks with arch-rivals India for nearly a year.
The militay said the Shaheen III surface-to-surface missile had a range of 2,750 km and can carry nuclear and conventional warheads.
“The test launch, with its impact point in the Arabian Sea, was aimed at validating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system at maximum range,” the military said in a statement.
Senior officers from the strategic plans division, strategic forces, scientists and engineers of strategic organizations witnessed the successful launch.
Director General Strategic Plans Division Lt. Gen. Zubair Mahmood Hayat, while congratulating the scientists and engineers on achieving yet another milestone of historic significance, termed it a major step toward strengthening Pakistan’s deterrence capability.
He appreciated the technical prowess, dedication and commitment of scientists who contributed wholeheartedly to make the launch a success.
Lt. Gen. Zubair showed his full confidence over the strategic command and control system and the strategic forces’ capability to safeguard the security of the country against any aggression.
The successful test launch and achievement of this range milestone has also been warmly appreciated by the president and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who both congratulated the scientists and engineers on their achievement.
India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, have routinely carried out missile tests since both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability in 1998.
Pakistan’s most recent missile test came last month with the launch of a low-flying, terrain-hugging cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Islamabad last week for talks with his Pakistani counterpart.




It was the first senior-level dialogue between the nuclear-armed rivals since their prime ministers met in New Delhi last May.
Relations between the two countries, always fraught, soured further last August amid a rise in clashes along their borders and a row over a Pakistani diplomat meeting Kashmiri separatists.