ISLAMABAD

Pakistan conducted a “successful training launch” of a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometers (279.6 miles), the military said Saturday.

The Pakistani army said the launch was “aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced maneuverability features.”

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and military leadership congratulated the participating troops, scientists, and engineers for the successful launch of missiles.

"They expressed complete confidence in the operational preparedness and technical proficiency of Pakistan’s Strategic Forces to ensure credible minimum deterrence and safeguard national security against any aggression,” according to the statement.

The latest launch comes as tensions are running high between the nuclear-armed Pakistan and India since the April 22 attack in the Pahalgam tourist resort in the Indian-administered Kashmir.

India blamed Pakistan for the attack, saying it had “cross border links,” but Islamabad denied.

It, however, offered an impartial probe under third-party monitoring.