Posted on 05/26/2002 11:10:25 AM PDT by maquiladora
ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI: Pakistan conducted its second missile test in as many days yesterday, ignoring calls to abandon a series of launches that has stoked tension with India and raised fears of war between the nuclear-armed rivals.
India has played down the tests as routine but boosted security to protect vital off- and on-shore oil and gas facilities.
"As part of a series of missile tests currently under way, Pakistan today carried out a successful test fire of its newly developed short-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf-3 (Ghaznavi)," the Pakistani military said.
The United States and Russia had asked Pakistan to stop the tests that began on Saturday with the launch of a medium-range Ghauri missile capable of firing nuclear warheads at key Indian cities, including New Delhi and Bombay.
Pakistan said earlier the "routine" tests would continue until tomorrow.
The two neighbours have massed a million men on their border since a deadly raid on India's parliament in December that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Muslim militants.
Tension surged in the wake of a bloody May 14 raid on a Indian army camp in Kashmir. The rivals have been trading heavy fire on the frontier for more than a week and 16 civilians on both sides were killed in weekend clashes, officials said.
US President George Bush, in Russia for a summit with President Vladimir Putin, expressed deep concern on Saturday and called on Pakistan to stop militant raids into Indian-controlled territory.
Putin, speaking after the Saturday test, said it had added anxiety to an already tense climate. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said both the US and the Russian sides had asked Pakistan to stop the missile launches.
"We believe that such actions amid a crisis of this nature will only complicate the situation and heighten tension and we have asked Pakistan to refrain from taking such steps," Ivanov said.
The Pakistani military statement said President Pervez Musharraf had sent his congratulations after the Sunday firing.
"This was the first test of the Ghaznavi missile, which is capable of carrying warheads accurately up to a range of 290km . The flight data collected indicated that all design parameters have been successfully validated," it said.
Musharraf said on Saturday Pakistan did not want war but was not afraid of it.
French President Jacques Chirac telephoned India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Saturday to discuss the tension.
Chirac said efforts must be redoubled to dry up the sources of terrorism and to seek a peaceful solution. He was due to telephone UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Musharraf later.
India accuses Pakistan of backing raids by Islamic guerrillas fighting Indian forces in Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state. Pakistan says it only offers Kashmiri separatists political support.
India bitterly complains that the United States and other countries are too soft on Musharraf, embracing him as an ally in the war on terror against the al Qaeda network while Islamabad supports what New Delhi calls "cross-border terrorism".
Vajpayee, speaking on Saturday in the northern town of Manali where he is on a break, said New Delhi's patience was running out and he urged world leaders to step up pressure on Pakistan to stop the militants.
While both sides said the missile tests were routine, their timing was a defiant gesture that added to world alarm about what US Secretary of State Colin Powell called a very dangerous situation on the subcontinent.
The United States has warned its citizens against travelling to India and Pakistan and advised those there to consider leaving. Australia has issued a similar warning.
Bush urged Musharraf to fulfil a pledge to stop militant raids into Indian Kashmir while Putin said he hoped Musharraf and Vajpayee could sort out their differences at a regional conference in Kazakhstan in June.
An Indian spokeswoman confirmed Vajpayee would attend the summit and might meet Putin. She could not comment on any plans to talk with Musharraf.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir.
Dozens of civilians and soldiers on both sides have been killed and wounded in border firing over the last nine days. Thousands of civilians have fled front-line villages.
An Indian defence official said at least five Indian civilians were killed in heavy overnight exchanges on the border in Jammu and Pakistan's Sialkot district. Pakistani officials said at least 11 Pakistani civilians were killed on Saturday.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.