Pakistan Army took delivery of a short-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile on Saturday, a military statement said. The ‘‘indigenously produced’’ surface-to-surface solid-fuel missile Hatf-III Ghaznavi was delivered to the Army Strategic Force Command at a ceremony attended by President Pervez Musharraf, it said.It quoted Musharraf as saying that missile tests over the last four years and the delivery of systems to the military demonstrated his government’s resolve to ‘‘consolidate and strengthen’’ Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent.‘‘Pakistan’s nuclear capability is for the sole purpose of deterrence of aggression,’’ the statement quoted Musharraf as saying. ‘‘He assured the world that the proliferation network had been uprooted within Pakistan,’’ it added.The statement said Hatf III had a range of 290 km and had successfully been tested in 2002 and 2003. ‘‘It now forms an integral component of Pakistan’s operational deterrence systems, which also include Shaheen series and Ghauri intermediate-range missiles,’’ it added. —(Reuters)
