Pak test-fires nuclear-capable cruise missile

11 Dec 2007, 1136 hrs IST

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday successfully test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile, the defence ministry said.

The locally developed Babur (Hatf 7) missile has a range of 700 kilometres (440 miles), a ministry spokesman said.

Pakistan previously tested the missile in March and July this year. It was first fired in 2005, when its range was only 500 kilometres.

Pakistan and India have routinely conducted missile tests since the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours carried out tit-for-tat nuclear detonations in May 1998.

However in 2004, they launched a slow-moving peace process aimed at ending six decades of hostility and resolving their dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, the cause of two of their three wars.

In February, Pakistan and India signed a deal to cut the risk of atomic weapons accidents.

Pakistan did not say if it had informed New Delhi in advance about the latest test. They have an agreement to notify each other about tests of ballistic missiles but not cruise missiles.

(http://www.timesofindia.com)