Agreement on Pre-notification of the ‘Flight Testing of Ballistic Missiles’

About Agreement on Pre-notification of the ‘Flight Testing of Ballistic Missiles’

• It was signed between India and Pakistan on October 3, 2005.
• According to the pact, both countries are supposed to send each other an ‘advance notification’ of the flight test that they intend to undertake of any land or sea- launched, surface-to-surface ballistic missiles.
• The notification should be "no less than three days in advance of the commencement of a five-day launch window within which it intends to undertake flight tests of any land or sea-launched, surface-to-surface ballistic missile".
• Each country also has to ensure that the test launch sites don’t fall within 40 km and the impact area isn’t within 75 km of the International Boundary or the Line of Control along the side of the country undertaking the test.
• Each party shall also further ensure that the planned trajectory of the ballistic missile being flight tested shall not cross the International Boundary or the Line of Control between India and Pakistan, and further, it shall maintain a horizontal distance of at least 40 km from the International Boundary and the Line of Control.
• The parties shall treat the bilateral pre-Notification exchanged under this agreement as confidential, unless otherwise agreed upon.
• The notification shall be conveyed through the respective Foreign Offices and the High Commissions, as per the format annexed to the agreement.
• The agreement states that pre-notification applies only to tests conducted with surface-to-surface ballistic missiles launched from land or sea. The agreement does not apply to cruise missiles.
• The agreement also does not apply to surface-to-air missiles.
• A party may withdraw from this agreement by giving six months written notice to the other, indicating its intention to abrogate the agreement.

Q1) What are Ballistic Missiles?

Ballistic missiles are powered initially by a rocket or series of rockets in stages, but then follow an unpowered trajectory that arches upwards before descending to reach its intended target. Ballistic missiles can carry either nuclear or conventional warheads.

Source: Pakistan urges India to comply with stipulated timeline of flight testing of ballistic missiles