Pakistan reports new nuclear-capable missile test
16/11/2006 14:16 ISLAMABAD, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Pakistan has successfully tested a new missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, its news media said Thursday.
Quoting army officials, Pakistani television channels said the test of a Hatf V/Ghauri missile, with a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles), was conducted as part of a national Hatf upgrading program.
In February this year, Pakistan test fired a new surface-to-surface Hatf II/Abdali nuclear-capable missile with a range of 120 miles. In March, it conducted a test launch of a Hatf VII/Babur cruise missile, with a 500-kilometer (311-mile) range.
Pakistan officially joined the club of nuclear powers in May 1998 when it detonated five nuclear devices in a mountain desert area in its Balochistan province.
It is believed to have started building its nuclear capability in the 1970s, in response to nuclear tests in neighboring India. A long-standing conflict between the two countries over the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir put the subcontinent on the brink of a nuclear war several times in the past.
Pakistan, like India, is not a signatory to either the Non-Proliferation Treaty or the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
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