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United States Calls for Restraint After Third Pakistani Missile Test
The United States yesterday called on Pakistan to exercise restraint after Islamabad conducted its third ballistic missile test this month (see GSN, Oct. 15). “As we’ve said before, we urge Pakistan and other countries in the region to take steps to restrain their nuclear weapons and missile programs,” U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday, apparently also referring to Pakistan’s South Asian rival India. Pakistan yesterday conducted a successful test of its Shaheen 1 nuclear-capable ballistic missile, according to reports. Earlier this month, Pakistan conducted a separate Shaheen 1 test and a test of the nuclear-capable, short-range Ghaznavi missile. The United States has also called on both India and Pakistan to refrain from deploying ballistic missiles armed with nuclear weapons, Boucher said. He added that the United States has called on both countries to begin a dialogue to reduce tensions in the region. “We’ve also encouraged them to begin a dialogue on confidence-building measures that could reduce the likelihood that such weapons would ever be used. That kind of dialogue could be part of broader engagement to reduce tensions,” Boucher said (U.S. State Department release, Oct. 14). The Indian External Affairs Ministry criticized Boucher’s apparent reference to India in his remarks yesterday, according to Sify.com. Boucher “ought to have confined himself to reacting to the Pakistani missile test rather than clutter up what he had to say by thinly disguised unwarranted references to India,” a ministry spokesman said (Sify.com, Oct. 15).
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