Amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, Pakistan on Saturday test-fired a surface-to-surface missile—Abdali Weapon System—with a range of 450 kilometers.
PTV News, in a social media post, said the launch was aimed at ensuring the operation readiness of Pakistani troops and validating key technical parameters, including the advanced navigation system and improved manoeuvrability features of the missile.
Commander, Army Strategic Forces Command; senior officials from the Strategic Plans Division; and Army Strategic Forces Command witnessed the training launch.
PTV News said the President, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and Services Chiefs "expressed complete confidence in the operational preparedness and technical proficiency of Pakistan’s Strategic Forces to ensure credible minimum deterrence and safeguard national security against any aggression" after the missile testing.
ALSO READ: With Indo-Pak border ceasefire in flames, India opts for ‘calibrated statecraft’
Earlier, news agency ANI quoted defence sources as saying that Pakistan's intention to test the surface-to-surface missile was a "reckless act of provocation and a dangerous escalation in its hostile campaign against India." According to them, the proposed missile test was a "desperate attempt to whip up tensions with India."
Meanwhile, small-arms firing between Indian and Pakistani troops continued in different sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir for the ninth consecutive night after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people were killed.
During the night of May 2 and 3, the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked small arms fire across the Line of Control opposite the Kupwara, Uri, and Akhnoor areas of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
Indian Army responded promptly and proportionately, a defence spokesperson said.