ISLAMABAD — Pakistan test-fired a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on Tuesday, its second test in three days and barely a week after the government confirmed it would resume high-level peace talks with arch-rival India.
The test is the latest in a series carried out by India and Pakistan since both demonstrated nuclear weapons capability in 1998.
The military said it had fired a Shaheen 1A surface-to-surface ballistic missile which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads within a range of 900 kilometers.
"The flight test was aimed at re-validating several design and technical parameters of the weapon system. Shaheen1A is capable of delivering different types of warheads to a range of 900 kilometers," a statement said.
Later, a security official confirmed to AFP that the missile can also carry nuclear warheads.
Relations between Pakistan and India — which have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 — have always been fraught, but soured further last August amid a rise in clashes along their borders and a row over a Pakistani diplomat meeting Kashmiri separatists.
Last week, India's Foreign Minister held talks with her Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad on the sidelines of a regional summit on Afghanistan, where they jointly announced they would resume high-level peace talks.
