Pakistan Conducts Missile Test Again; India Orders Drills as Tensions Grow

Pakistan conducted a second missile test and India ordered civil defence drills in an escalating stand-off over contested Kashmir that the United Nations said on May 5 has brought the two nations to the brink of war.

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ISLAMABAD - Pakistan conducted a second missile test and India ordered civil defence drills in an escalating stand-off over contested Kashmir that the United Nations said on May 5 has brought the two nations to the brink of war.

New Delhi blames Pakistan for an attack on civilians at the tourist site of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, sparking a series of heated threats and diplomatic tit-for-tat measures.

Pakistan rejects the accusations, and has repeatedly made clear it will respond with force to any aggression by India.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on May 5 said relations between Pakistan and India had reached a "boiling point", warning that "now is the time for maximum restraint and stepping back from the brink" of war.

The Pakistani military said on May 5 it had tested a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 120km, a launch "aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops".

The missile test comes as Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad for talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on May 5, ahead of a visit to India on May 8.