DATE=4/12/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-247950
TITLE=MISSILE / PAK REACT (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=SCOTT ANGER
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A DAY AFTER INDIA TEST-FIRED A NEW BALLISTIC MISSILE,
ARCH-RIVAL PAKISTAN HAS COME UNDER PRESSURE TO RESPOND.
CORRESPONDENT SCOTT ANGER SPOKE WITH AN ANALYST IN PAKISTAN WHO
SAYS THE COUNTRY HAS NO CHOICE, BUT TO ANSWER INDIA'S ACTION
WITH A MISSILE TEST OF ITS OWN.
TEXT: NO OFFICIAL INDICATION HAS BEEN GIVEN ABOUT WHETHER
PAKISTAN WILL TEST ONE OF ITS MISSILES IN RESPONSE TO INDIA'S
TEST-FIRING OF THE AGNI-TWO MISSILE SUNDAY. PAKISTAN'S FOREIGN
MINISTER SAYS HIS COUNTRY WILL MAKE A DECISION IN THE NEXT FEW
DAYS.
BUT KHALID MAHMUD, OF THE INSTITUTE OF REGIONAL STUDIES IN
ISLAMABAD, SAYS INDIA'S TEST HAS LEFT PAKISTAN WITH JUST ONE WAY
OF RESPONDING.
/// MAHMUD ACT ///
PAKISTAN HAS ONLY ONE OPTION -- THEY ARE GOING TO TEST
FIRE A MISSILE, MAYBE IN A WEEK'S TIME. THE PAKISTANIS
HAVE NO CHOICE, UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT TO
RESPOND.
///END ACT///
IF PAKISTAN CARRIES OUT A TEST, EXPERTS SAY IT COULD ANY ONE OF
THE THREE BALLISTIC MISSILES THE COUNTRY HAS IN ITS ARSENAL.
PAKISTAN COULD TEST-FIRE THE SHAHEEN-ONE OR THE SHAHEEN-TWO.
BOTH MISSILES ARE CAPABLE OF ONE-THOUSAND KILOGRAM PAYLOADS, BUT
THE UPGRADED SHAHEEN-TWO REPORTEDLY HAS A RANGE OF MORE THAN TWO
THOUSAND KILOMETERS, WHICH COULD STRIKE DEEP WITHIN NEIGHBORING
INDIA.
ISLAMABAD COULD ALSO CHOOSE TO TEST AN UPGRADED VERSION OF THE
GHUARI, WHICH FIRST APPEARED IN PUBLIC LAST MONTH AT A NATIONAL
DAY PARADE. THE MISSILE HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY TESTED AND IS
CAPABLE OF DELIVERING A NUCLEAR WARHEAD UP TO 15-HUNDRED
KILOMETERS.
ALTHOUGH INDIA'S MISSILE TEST HAS RAISED TENSIONS BETWEEN THE TWO
RIVALS, MR MAHMUD SAYS HE DOES NOT THINK THE TEST WILL HAVE ANY
EFFECT ON THE ONGOING DIALOGUE DESIGNED TO IMPROVE STRAINED
RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES.
///MAHMUD ACT TWO///
THE TIMING OF TESTING OF AGNI-TWO HAS MORE TO DO WITH
DOMESTIC POLITICS. AS THE INDIAN OPPOSITION HAS CHARGED,
THIS IS A POLITICAL STUNT TO SALVAGE THE RULING
COALITION'S DWINDLING POLITICAL FORTUNES.
///END ACT///
INDIA AND PAKISTAN, WHICH HAVE FOUGHT THREE WARS IN THE LAST 50
YEARS, HAVE REVIVED THE PEACE DIALOGUE UNDER INTERNATIONAL
PRESSURE, AFTER BOTH CONDUCTED BACK-TO-BACK NUCLEAR TESTS LAST
YEAR. THE TESTS RAISED FEARS OF A NUCLEAR CONFLICT IN SOUTH
ASIA. (SIGNED)
NEB/SA/KL
12-Apr-99 11:01 AM EDT (1501 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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