Pakistan test launched its air-launched cruise missile Hatf-VIII or Raad. The missile can carry nuclear warheads over a 350-km range. The Pakistani test came a day after India successfully test fired its IRBM Agni-III1.

In other developments, a recent book Goodbye Shehzadi by Shyam Bhatia has revealed that the late Pakistani Prime Minster Benazir Bhutto had played an active role in furthering Pakistan’s clandestine nuclear programme. It claimed that Bhutto personally took CDs containing scientific data about uranium enrichment to and from North Korea on an official trip. The North Koreans in return gave disassembled parts of an entire missile in order to enable Pakistani scientists to study it. Till her assassination, the late Mrs. Bhutto had always maintained that the North Korean missile was acquired in a cash deal and unaccompanied by a quid pro quo in the form of transfer of technology2.

• 1. “Pakistan tests Hatf-VIII missile,” The Hindu, May 9, 2008, at http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/09/stories/2008050950080100.htm
• 2. “Benazir was a courier in illegal nuclear arms trade, says book,” The Hindu, May 11, 2008, at http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/11/stories/2008051159811100.htm