- ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan
said its army took delivery of a new medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic
missile on Thursday as part of a minimum but credible deterrence policy
against what it called belligerence in the region.
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- President Pervez Musharraf, who attended a ceremony marking
the handover of the Pakistani-produced Hatf-IV missile, did not refer by
name to South Asian nuclear rival India.
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- The two countries went to the brink of war last year
over the divided Himalayan state of Kashmir.
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- "Pakistan (does) not have global ambitions but was
compelled to go nuclear due to belligerence in its neighborhood,"
Musharraf was quoted as saying by state-run Pakistan television.
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- "We are not into any arms race with anyone. Minimum
credible deterrence remains the cornerstone of our security policy and
toward that end we have defined and quantified for ourselves the notion
of minimum deterrence," he said.
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- "Beyond that quantified notion, Pakistan will not
pursue an open-ended strategic weapons arms race. In my opinion, in the
nuclear game, numbers beyond a point lose their significance."
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- Musharraf said Pakistan's strategic plan provided for
a "comfortable" level of security but did not elaborate.
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- ALL TYPES OF WARHEADS
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- A statement issued by Pakistan's military said the Hatf-IV
missile, also known as the Shaheen One, had a range of 466 miles and could
carry all types of warheads.
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- The statement did not say how many missiles were handed
over to the army's Strategic Force Command, but television footage showed
at least three vehicle-mounted missiles being paraded.
-
- A spokesman for India's Defense Ministry said he had
no comment to make.
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- Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests in 1998 in
response to similar testing by India and both countries have developed
a range of missiles to deliver nuclear warheads. Jane's Defense Weekly
estimates India has 100 to 150 warheads and Pakistan 25 to 50. Jane's says
the Hatf-IV can carry a 2,200 pound warhead.
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- Defense analysts say the introduction of the missile
is designed as a signal to both India and to Pakistanis.
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- The missile was tested in October last year, during the
standoff with India and just before elections called by Pakistan's military
rulers to return the country to civilian rule.
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- "You have to keep on giving signals to your own
people and also to India, because India is also doing so," said former
general Talat Masood. "It is meant for both."
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- India has conducted a series of missile tests in the
past year.
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