Pakistan test fires cruise missile

Pakistan today test fired its first cruise missile, capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads, and did not give advance warning to its archrival India, officials said.

The missile, named Babur, has a range of 310 miles, and was fired early this morning. The launch site was not disclosed.

“By the grace of Allah, all design parameters for the flight were validated,” a military statement said.

The Foreign Ministry said Pakistan did not inform India, as an agreement formalised between the two countries over the weekend in New Delhi on pre-notification of missile tests does not cover cruise missiles.

There was no immediate reaction from India.

“The agreement on pre-notification of ballistic missiles, which has been finalised but yet not signed in New Delhi, does not cover pre-notification of cruise missile tests,” said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Naeem Khan.

Cruise missiles are typically low-flying guided missiles that use jet propulsion to allow sustained flight.

The military statement said the Babur missile flies parallel to the surface of the ground, can hit its target with “pinpoint accuracy” and can be fired from war ships, submarines and fighter jets.

“The technology enables the missile to avoid radar detection and penetrate undetected through any hostile defensive system,” it said.

Army spokesman Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan said Pakistan has joined the few countries “that can design and make cruise missiles”.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf praised the scientists and engineers involved in the Babur project for their success, “and reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to continue to meet emerging challenges and geo-strategic developments in its neighbourhood”, the army statement said.

The missile test agreement is part of confidence-building in a peace process between the South Asian rivals, which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. They also agreed at the weekend to set up a hotline next month to help prevent accidental nuclear conflict.

Pakistan and India, which both carried out nuclear tests in 1998, often carry out tit-for-tat missile tests capable of reaching deep inside each other’s territory.

In March, Pakistan successfully test fired its longest range nuclear-capable Shaheen II missile, which can reach 1,250 miles.

India has said that it will test its longest range missile, the 1,865-mile Agni III, by the end of the year. It already has the intermediate range Agni I and Agni II versions of the missile.

India also has the short-range ballistic missile Prithvi, the anti-tank Nag missile, the short-range surface-to-air Trishul missile, and the supersonic cruise missile, Brahmos, in its arsenal.

Pakistan and India share more than half a century of hostile relations mainly because of their dispute over Kashmir, a Himalayan region divided between them but claimed by each in its entirety.

They have fought two wars over Kashmir since their independence from British rule in 1947.