From
BBC News,
Pakistan today test-fired a new cruise missile.
The Babur missile is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads and has a range of 500km (310 miles), a military spokesman said.
Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the launch was a birthday gift to President Pervez Musharraf.
So happy birthday, Mr. Musharraf! You can now nuke someone with cruise missiles, as well as simple ballistics!
There's more:
Did they mention this to their next-door neighbors? NO!
The launch comes days after Pakistan and India agreed to give each other advance notice of future nuclear ballistic missile tests.
India was not informed about Thursday's test because the agreement did not cover guided missiles, a Pakistan military spokesman said.
So, more good news from South Asia! </snark> Yes, the two nations are on better terms now, for the moment, than they have been in recent years. Pakistan, though, is still a very unsettling place, with a not terribly popular government seemingly perpetually facing simmering Islamic unrest, and a propensity for selling nuclear technology and know-how on the world black market.
Let's not forget, India and Pakistan have had on-and-off good and bad relations over the last half century. And Kashmir is still qute a sore spot, likely to continue for quite some time.
And then, there's this last lovely bit:
The two countries have twice veered close to war since their nuclear tests in 1998 - over Kashmir in 1999 and again in 2002.
Both countries have limited command-and-control structures, and neither has developed the technology to recall a nuclear-tipped missile fired in error.
Oh well, at least Iraq and Iran are not the only "interesting" places out there right now.
My own somewhat pessimistic take is that if there is a place in the world where a genuine nuclear war is likely to start, this is at, or at best, very near the top of the list.