Pakistan on Thursday said that the recent test fire of surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-5 by India would further vitiate the political and security environment in South Asia. “We are concerned at India’s jingoistic pursuit of lethal weapons, which coupled with its hostile posturing vis-à-vis neighbours, further imperils peace and stability in South Asia,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said in his weekly press briefing.

He said it must be alarming for the international community that at a time when the region was already facing the growing and real threat of extremist Hindutva ideology which espouses territorial expansionism, the BJP-RSS combine was recklessly seeking an arms race.

He told media that India’s behaviour defied the oft-propounded argument that its mainstreaming in the international export control regimes would further the non-proliferation objectives of the regime by promoting restraints.

“To the contrary, India seems to have been imbued with a sense of entitlement to access technologies for advancing its weapons programs, and it is a source of concern for us,” the spokesperson remarked.