[ Ссылка ] - Defence experts say that while the exact range of the Pakistani missile has not been revealed, it is it capable of hitting targets up to 2,500 to 3,000km (1,550 to 1,850 miles) away - putting arch-rival India well within reach. The Agni-V long-range intercontinental ballistic missile launched by India last week has a range of more than 5,000km (3,100 miles), potentially bringing targets in China within range.
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has successfully conducted a test of an intermediate range ballistic missile, the country's military has said.
The Hatf-IV Shaheen-1A missile is capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads, a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department said on Wednesday.
The missile test was aimed at a target in the Indian Ocean. The ISPR said the new design implemented "improvements in range and technical parameters", but declined to provide specific details.
Previous versions of the missile are believed to have an approximate range of about 750km.
General Khalid Kidwai, the director general of the Pakistan army's Strategic Plans Division, witnessed the test, saying "the improved version of Shaheen 1A will further consolidate and strengthen Pakistan's deterrence abilities", according to the ISPR statement.
On April 19, India, Pakistan's neighbour and regional rival, announced that it had successfully launched its first intercontinental ballistic missile, with a range of 5,000km.
India and Pakistan have fought three full-scale wars since they achieved independence from the British Empire in 1947. They conduct missile tests regularly and inform each other in advance.
Dipankar Banerjee, a retired major-general in the Indian army currently at the New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict, said: "Pakistan had informed India two days earlier" of the test, and that "there should be no disquiet [in the region] on [the matter of these tests] at all".
Pakistan's last missile test came last month with the launch of the short-range nuclear-capable Abdali.
India and Pakistan have both routinely carried out missile tests since they demonstrated nuclear weapons capability in 1998.
