Pakistan test-fired a Shaheen-2 surface-to-surface ballistic missile Tuesday.

A press release from the Army's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the "indigenously developed" missile system can carry all types of warheads and the range is up to 2,000 km.

All the planned technical parameters were successfully validated during the test-fire, said the press release.

A series of nuclear proliferation scandals in the recent past had raised suspicions that Pakistan would roll back its nuclear development, which, as the release put it, was "categorically dismissed" by the missile test.

The release added that the test reflected Pakistan's resolve to maintain its minimum deterrence.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali congratulated all personnel involved in the test, according to the release.

It also said Pakistan had informed neighboring countries about the test-fire as a confidence building measures.

No detail on the location of the test has been reached so far.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2004)