Pakistan launched its second test of a nuclear capable missile in as many days, amid renewed demands from both the United States and India that President Pervez Musharraf "show results" in stopping militant incursions into Indian-ruled Kashmir.
Pakistan launched its second test of a nuclear capable missile in as many days, amid renewed demands from both the United States and India that President Pervez Musharraf 'show results' in stopping militant incursions into Indian-ruled Kashmir.
Pakistan's missile testing has been widely criticised by an international community attempting to ease tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, now on a war footing.
US President George W Bush, speaking from Paris, challenged Gen Musharraf to "show results" in keeping militants from carrying out terrorist acts in the disputed Kashmir region.
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That issue, he said, is more important than Pakistan's two missile tests. "I'm more concerned about making sure ... that President Musharraf shows results in terms of stopping people from crossing the line of control," President Bush said.
Meanwhile, India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee again warned the international community that India's patience was wearing thin. "When the world is fighting terrorism and American forces are in Afghanistan fighting the forces of terrorism, then how and for how long can India tolerate terrorism?" he said.
Mr Vajpayee said he regretted that India had not hit out at militant groups soon after a terrorist attack on the Indian parliament on December 13th that killed 14 people.
Today Pakistan conducted the first-ever test of a new short-range missile, the Hatf-III or Ghaznavi.
With a range of 176 miles, the missile could reach the border regions of India, where a million troops are arrayed on both sides in a tense standoff. The missile launch followed what Pakistan said was a successful test-firing yesterday of a Ghauri missile with a range of 900 miles, far enough to reach deep into India.
Both the Ghauri and Ghaznavi missiles are capable of carrying conventional and nuclear warheads. Pakistan says it is conducting a series of missile tests that will end Tuesday and asserts that the tests have nothing to do with the tension with India.
After the two successful firings, Pakistan's defences were "impregnable" Joint Chiefs of Staff committee chairman General Aziz Ahmed Khan said. "[The] concentration of troops on borders and coercive attitude of any power could not frighten the valiant armed forces of Pakistan, whose soldiers were more keen to embrace martyrdom than saving their lives," he said.
India says it was informed of plans for the tests and is not concerned about them. Shelling across the border in disputed Kashmir has increased dramatically in the last week and dozens of villagers in both Pakistan and India have been killed.
Indian police said that five civilians were killed and four others wounded on the Indian side of the frontier overnight as fighting that began yesterday after a two-week lull continued.
AP &