Babur cruise missile
From Wikinfo
The Babur cruise missile is a Pakistani delivery system which may be fired from surface ships, submarines or aircraft. Capable of carrying a conventional payload 310 miles, it may also be capable of delivering a nuclear warhead. The missile was first tested on August 11, 2005, possibly contravening a treaty between Pakistan and India under which the signatories were required to give one another advance notice of such tests. Such treaty provisions are usually intended as "confidence building measures." Pakistani officials have insisted that the treaty covers only ballistic missiles.
A close political and military ally of the United States, Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state with a history of covert promotion of nuclear proliferation and state sponsorship for Islamist terrorism in Indian Kashmir. Ironically, the second Bush administration justfied the United States military invasion of Iraq because the government of that country possessed or sought to acquire nuclear weapons. When that was proven untrue, the fallback justification was that Iraq was supporting Islamist terrorism. That too was proven untrue. Pakistan is typically among the top 5 recipients of miltiary and economic aid from the United States. A Pakistani nuclear strike against Indian ciites would kill millions.
Sources
- Saddaqat Jan. "Pakistan Test Fires Cruise Missile." Associated Press. August 11, 2005.
- News Report
