Pakistan tests missile
Shaheen-II launched after Indian election focused on hard line in Kashmir
ISLAMABAD— Pakistan successfully test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, the miltary announced on Thursday.
The surface-to-surface Shaheen-II missile, which has a range of 1,500 kilometers, was launched on Thursday and ended in the Arabian Sea.
The announcement was made as the initial election results in India, Pakistan’s chief regional rival, showed that the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party was leading the justconcluded general election.
Regional rivals
Both nations have nuclear arms and have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. They regularly test-fire missiles.
Vote counting in India shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party have a commanding lead, making another five-year term for the Hindu nationalist leader very likely.
On Wednesday, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi spoke briefly with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Kyrgyzstan.
“We never speak bitterly. We want to live like good neighbors and settle our outstanding issues through talks,” Qureshi said.
The remark follows months of tension between the longtime rivals, which came close to war in February over the disputed region of Kashmir, which both sides have claimed since independence from Britain in 1947.
Following a suicide attack in Kashmir that killed 40 Indian paramilitary policemen in February, Indian jets launched a raid inside Pakistan, striking what New Delhi said was a training camp of Jaish-e Mohammed, the radical group that claimed the Kashmir attack.
In response, Pakistan conducted a retaliatory strike of its own and jets from the two countries fought a dogfight over Kashmir during which an Indian pilot was shot down and captured.
Amid international pressure to end the conflict, Pakistan returned the pilot and there were no further strikes but tensions remained high, with exchanges of artillery fire from both sides in Kashmir.
Pakistan has also kept part of its airspace closed to international air traffic, disrupting flights to India and other parts of the region.
Offer of talks
Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly offered to start talks with India to resolve the Kashmir issue and officials said they hoped the process could start after the election.
Khan himself said last month he believed there was more prospect of peace talks with India if Modi’s party won the election.