Pakistan yesterday 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 500km, and was fired early yesterday. 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 formalized 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 finalized 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 Major General Shaukat Sultan said Pakistan has joined the few countries "that can design and make cruise missiles."
President General 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 neighborhood," 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 hot line 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 2,000km.
India has said that it will test its longest range missile, the 3,000km Agni III, by year's end. 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.
When Shanghai-based designer Guo Qingshan posted a vacation photo on Valentine’s Day and captioned it “Puppy Mountain,” it became a sensation in China and even created a tourist destination. Guo had gone on a hike while visiting his hometown of Yichang in central China’s Hubei Province late last month. When reviewing the photographs, he saw something he had not noticed before: A mountain shaped like a dog’s head rested on the ground next to the Yangtze River, its snout perched at the water’s edge. “It was so magical and cute. I was so excited and happy when I discovered it,” Guo said.
TURNAROUND: The Liberal Party had trailed the Conservatives by a wide margin, but that was before Trump threatened to make Canada the US’ 51st state Canada’s ruling Liberals, who a few weeks ago looked certain to lose an election this year, are mounting a major comeback amid the threat of US tariffs and are tied with their rival Conservatives, according to three new polls. An Ipsos survey released late on Tuesday showed that the left-leaning Liberals have 38 percent public support and the official opposition center-right Conservatives have 36 percent. The Liberals have overturned a 26-point deficit in six weeks, and run advertisements comparing the Conservative leader to Trump. The Conservative strategy had long been to attack unpopular Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but last month he
Chinese authorities said they began live-fire exercises in the Gulf of Tonkin on Monday, only days after Vietnam announced a new line marking what it considers its territory in the body of water between the nations. The Chinese Maritime Safety Administration said the exercises would be focused on the Beibu Gulf area, closer to the Chinese side of the Gulf of Tonkin, and would run until tomorrow evening. It gave no further details, but the drills follow an announcement last week by Vietnam establishing a baseline used to calculate the width of its territorial waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. State-run Vietnam News
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
RSS