Pak to continue missile tests: Gen

There would be more missile tests in the coming months as Pakistan has always accorded priority to its security above everything else, he said.

The announcement followed Musharraf’s recent remarks that India’s proposed acquisition of the Patriot Missile Defence System from the US was not a cause for concern for his country as, he said, the system had neither a high accuracy kill-ratio nor the capability to neutralise the effectiveness of Pakistan’s missile inventory.

Musharraf’s government has conducted missile tests in the past to refute criticism that its nuclear and missile programme was being toned down under US pressure.

Musharraf said that both India and Pakistan should take some ‘‘corrective action on rhetoric’’, pointing out that ‘‘there was some rhetoric in the United States by the Indian leadership and there is a counter rhetoric from this side’’. However, this has not affected the reality of the peace process. ‘‘If we control all that, I am sure the peace process will continue to go forward. Our desire is to move forward. We should learn lessons from all that has happened and not get involved in issues that create a gulf between ourselves and hurt the peace process.’’

Musharraf who met the foreign media to brief them on Pakistan’s efforts to contain extremism, asserted that the country’s nuclear weapons are safe.

Apparently responding to fears expressed by PM Manmohan Singh of a likelihood of Pakistan’s extremist parties coming to power and seizing control of its nuclear weapons, Musharraf said, ‘‘All nuclear weapons in Pakistan are in safe hands,” adding Pakistan will “never be ruled” by extremists. —PTI