- ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan,
locked in a military stand-off with India, said it successfully test-fired
a medium-range ballistic missile on Friday, six days before holding general
elections.
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- Analysts said the test was partly a message that Pakistan's
military was capable of defending the country at a time of increased tension
with India, and was meant for both for external and internal consumption.
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- Tension between the nuclear-armed rivals has risen in
recent weeks as India holds its own state elections in the disputed region
of Kashmir.
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- Pakistan described the test of the surface-to-surface
missile as routine.
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- "Prior notification of the test had been given to
neighbors as well as some friendly countries," its Inter Services
Public Relations Directorate said in a press release.
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- India, which accuses Pakistan of trying to disrupt the
elections in Kashmir by sending Islamic militants across the border, shrugged
off the missile launch and said it was for domestic consumption.
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- "This particular test is clearly targeted at forthcoming
general elections in Pakistan," Indian foreign ministry spokeswoman
Nirupama Rao said in a statement to reporters.
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- Pakistan and India have massed around a million troops
along their border since an attack on India's parliament last December
that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed militants.
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- They came close to war in June after an attack on an
army camp in Kashmir, the disputed region over which they have fought two
of their three wars.
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- The missile was named as a Hatf-IV (Shaheen-1), which
Jane's Defense Weekly says has a range of 430 miles and can carry a 2,200
lb warhead.
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- PURELY TECHNICAL
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- Pakistani Information Minister Nisar Memon called Rao's
comments "flimsy propaganda" and warned India not to interfere
in Pakistani's internal affairs. The Foreign Office said the test "had
nothing to do with the situation in the region."
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- "This is purely a technical test and such technical
tests are conducted from time to time," Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman
Aziz Ahmed Khan told Reuters.
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- Former army general and columnist Talat Masood said there
was more to the test. "Whereas it is part of a continuous process
to validate and revalidate their effectiveness, at this time (ahead of
the elections) it also has a political connotation," he said. "It
is also a signal to India."
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- Military ruler General Pervez Musharraf is not standing
in the October 10 parliamentary polls, having awarded himself another five
years as president through a referendum in April.
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- But analysts say he wants a compliant parliament which
does not challenge his plans to give the military an institutionalized
role in helping to oversee politicians in Pakistan.
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- Pakistan last carried out a series of missile tests in
late May, when tension with India was at its height. The next month, India
tested its locally developed heat-seeking anti-tank Nag (Cobra) missile
and a Russian-made military rocket.
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- Tensions have since eased and the risk of war has receded.
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- But verbal sparring has increased in recent weeks, with
India accusing Pakistan of stepping up the infiltration of Islamic militants
into Kashmir to undermined the elections.
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- Pakistan denies the charge, and accused Indian intelligence
agents of sponsoring violent attacks on its territory.
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- Violence has plagued the polls in Indian-ruled Kashmir,
with more than 600 people killed since early August.
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- The Himalayan region was quiet on Friday ahead of the
fourth and final day of polling scheduled for Tuesday, although Pakistani
police said one civilian had been killed by Indian shelling across the
frontline dividing Kashmir on Thursday night.
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- Pakistan says its ballistic missiles could carry nuclear
warheads and has not ruled out using its nuclear capability in response
to a conventional attack.
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