NEW DELHIL Islamabad will test a ballistic missile on Thursday as it continues its efforts to internationalize the Kashmir issue and raise the specter of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, Indian media reported. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan hinted at a nuclear confrontation a week ago in an interview to the New York Times and repeated it on August 26 in a televised address.
Interestingly, it was on August 26 that Islamabad informed New Delhi about the test in Sindh, in keeping with the provisions of the Confidence Building Measures announced by the two countries in 2005 that mandates three-days prior notice on missile tests.
According to diplomats and missile scientists, the test of the surface-to-surface ballistic missile, perhaps the Ghaznavi (with a 300 km range) will be conducted on Thursday. According to inputs, the missile will be launched from command post (59) and site 888 in Sonmiani flight test range in Balochistan and will be tracked at Nooribad and Goth Piaro in Sindh by National Development Complex (NDC) ground control station, located at a 220 kilometre distance from the range. NDC is Pakistan’s missile developer headquartered in Fatehjang, Punjab (Pakistan).
In light of this testing, three routes of Karachi airspace have been closed from August 28 to 31. According to a NOTAM (notice to airmen, alerting pilots on routes) and naval warning issued by Pakistan, the Sonmiani Flight Test Range has been activated with an upper ceiling of 26,000 feet with impact in sea. The warning has asked all ships to be cleared from the area due to incoming missile.
The Modi government, the diplomats said, isn’t perturbed by the missile test; Pakistan watchers in India are clear that the test is being done deliberately to attract attention of the international community over the possibility of a nuclear conflict if Kashmir issue is not resolved the way Islamabad wants it to be.
The test is also partly aimed to satisfy the blood thirst of jihadi groups in Pakistan, which are now seeking retribution against India for repealing article 370 and 35 A in Jammu and Kashmir. “ The ballistic missile test is aimed at the domestic audience with opposition political parties slamming PM Khan for so-called letting Kashmir slip out of Pakistan’s grasp under his watch. The test is just a political message to drive home the nuclear flashpoint theory,” said a senior Indian diplomat.
(Agencies)
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