Islamabad: Pakistan said Saturday it had successfully tested two missiles capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads as Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani called for its recognition as a nuclear power.
A statement from the military said the Ghaznavi, with a range of 290 kilometres (180 miles), and the Shaheen 1, which can hit targets up to 650 kilometres away, both “successfully hit the target areas.”
Gilani, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tariq Majid and other senior military and civilian officials witnessed the tests, the military said.
The prime minister urged the international community to recognise Pakistan as a nuclear power and give it access to civilian nuclear energy.
“It is time for the world to recognise Pakistan as a de jure nuclear power with equal rights and responsibilities,” Gilani said.
He demanded a Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) waiver for Pakistan saying, “energy is a vital economic security need of Pakistan and nuclear energy is a clean way forward.”
The 45-member NSG controls the export and sale of nuclear technology worldwide. Is rules usually ban trade with states that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Pakistan is not a signatory.
Pakistan’s arsenal includes short-range, medium and long-range missiles named after Muslim conquerors.
South Asian rivals India and Pakistan — which have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir — have routinely carried out missile tests since both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability in 1998.
