Pakistan missile test for voters' benefit - India

India has said Islamabad's test of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile today was for domestic voter consumption ahead of next…

India has said Islamabad's test of a surface-to-surface ballistic missile today was for domestic voter consumption ahead of next week's general elections.

"This particular test is clearly targeted at forthcoming general elections in Pakistan," a foreign ministry spokeswoman said.

Pakistan is holding parliamentary elections on October 10th but Pakistani analysts say there is considerable voter apathy.

Pakistan test fired a medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, named the Hatf-IV (Shaheen-1), which say has a range of 700 kilometres.

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Pakistan said it notified its neighbours and "some friendly countries" before the test.

Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have massed around a million troops along their border since an attack on the Indian parliament last December that New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-backed militants.