Pakistan test-fired on Saturday a ballistic missile as tensions with India spiked over last week’s deadly terror attack on tourists in Kashmir.
The surface-to-surface missile has a range of 450km (about 280 miles), the Pakistani military said.
The launch of the Abdali Weapon System was aimed at ensuring the “operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters”, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced manoeuvrability features, according to a statement from the military.
Pakistan’s president Asif Ali Zardari and prime minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the scientists, engineers and those behind the successful missile test.
The country’s information minister Attaullah Tarar said days before Pakistan had “credible intelligence” that India was planning to attack it within days. Mr Tarar vowed in a statement to respond “very strongly” if Pakistan comes under attack by its nuclear rival.
Pakistan asked Gulf allies on Friday to help ease tensions with India after the 22 April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, where 26 people, mostly Hindus, were killed. India has blamed Pakistan for the attack, a charge Islamabad strongly rejects.The disputed region is split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.
India said it has banned the import of goods originating from or transiting via Pakistan.
India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade in a notification said the ban will take effect immediately.
“This restriction is imposed in the interest of national security and public policy,” it said.
Pakistan also announced retaliatory measures that have included halting all border trade, closing its airspace to Indian carriers and expelling Indian diplomats. It has also warned that any attempt to prevent the flow of river water promised under a decades-old treaty between the two nations would be considered an act of war.
Trade between the two nations has dwindled over the last few years.
(Additional reporting by Reuters)
