Hatf-III Ghaznavi missile handed over to Pak Army

Islamabad, Apr 26: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today said Pakistan seeks to establish ''peace through strength'' in South Asia and his country would never compromise on its nuclear programme or its minimum deterrence needs.

''Pakistan is a declared, fully established nuclear power with its minimum deterrence needs successfully achieved and its capability operationalised through a variety of delivery means'', Mr Aziz said while addressing scientists and senior military officials after handing over the final production batch of the Hatf-III Ghaznavi Missiles to the Army Strategic Force Command (ASFC) here today.

''It now forms an integral component of Pakistan's strategic land delivery systems, which also include the Shaheen Series and the Ghauri Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles,'' a military statement said.

The indigenously produced Hatf-III Ghaznavi Ballistic Missiles, with a range of 290 km, were taken over by the Second Missile Group of the Pakistani Army's Strategic Force Command. The solid fuel Ghaznavi Ballistic Missile System was successfully fired as part of a training exercise in December last year by troops of the ASFC.

Mr Aziz applauded the scientists, engineers and staff associated with the manufacture of the Ghaznavi missile system on the successful completion of their mission in record time.

He said the nation was stronger today due to their accomplishment and expected them to continue their hard work in pursuit of greater achievements.

''Pakistan's nuclear programme is a success story without a parallel in history,'' he said, adding that his Government was fully committed to provide requisite resources to achieve the goal of consolidating the objective of Credible Minimum Deterrence.

He reiterated that there would never be a compromise with the country's strategic programme. As a fully established and internationally accepted nuclear power, '' we should have confidence in our capabilities commensurate with our status, that none in the world can cast an evil eye on our nuclear capability or on our sovereignty'', he said.

The Prime Minister highlighted Pakistan's needs in the nuclear energy sector and expressed confidence that with the passage of time and with positive engagement with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Pakistan would succeed in earning cooperation for its nuclear power programme.

He said the Government had approved an ambitious nuclear power programme for generating 8800 MW of electricity by 2030, and it would spare no effort in convincing the world that it must cooperate with Pakistan in this field.

UNI