Pakistan Test-Fires Short-Range Missile Capable of Carrying Nuclear Device
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Pakistan's military said Wednesday it has successfully test-fired a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear device.
The army's Strategic Missile Group launched the Ghazanvi missile, which has a range of 290 kilometers (180 miles), from an undisclosed location, a military statement said.
Prime Minister Mohammedmian Soomro, top army officials and scientists witnessed the test, it said.
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With the launch, the army's Strategic Force Command "concluded its highly successful winter collective training," the statement said.
Pakistan became a declared nuclear power in 1998 by conducting nuclear tests in response to those carried out by neighboring India and test-firing its first missile the same year.
Since then, the two countries have routinely tested their missiles, and Wednesday's launch by Pakistan was the third in recent weeks.
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Soomro said Wednesday that Pakistan seeks peace in the region, but "peace comes from strength" and "weakness invites aggression."
Pakistan is "fully committed to retain a strong conventional and unconventional deterrence and will meet all the needs of a strong national defense," the military statement quoted him as saying.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought three wars since both gained independence from Britain in 1947.
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However, relations have improved markedly since 2004, when the two countries began a peace process to resolve outstanding disputes, including competing claims to the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.