Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif says defence ‘in strong hands’ after missile test

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said the country was prepared “for national defence” after the military conducted a second missile test since a fresh stand-off with India.“The successful training launch clearly shows that Pakistan’s defence is in strong hands,” the prime minister said in a statement, adding that he was satisfied with the army’s “full preparedness for national defence”.

Pakistan claimed to have conducted the “training launch” of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 120 kilometres from its Fatah series, local television channel PTV News reported on Monday.

PTV aired archival visuals of the training launch test as part of Exercise Indus as per a statement by Pakistan’s military arm, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) as per a report in the Dawn news outlet.

The launch was aimed at “ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced accuracy,” the ISPR was quoted as saying as per the Dawn report.

The development comes amid the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan following the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, which claimed the lives of 26 people while several others were injured.