The new test came just 48 hours before Pakistani general elections, and on the same day as the final phase of polls in Indian-administered Kashmir which have heightened India-Pakistan tension.

"This test was in continuation of the one conducted on October 4, 2002 to validate certain additional parameters," a defense ministry statement said.

"These parameters stand completely validated in the light of data collected from the test," it said, adding that the test-firing "concludes for now the series of planned tests."

The Shaheen surface-to-air missile, also known as Hatf-IV, has a range of up to 800 kilometers (500 miles), which means it can carry a nuclear warhead deep into the territory of rival India, a nuclear power like Pakistan.

The test of the medium-range missile came just ahead of Pakistan's first elections since a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf three years ago. Musharraf proclaimed himself president last year.

India dismissed both tests as an exercise aimed at Pakistan's domestic constituency ahead of the October 10 vote.

In New Delhi, a senior Indian official said the timing of the two tests was significant.

"The tests are aimed at Pakistan's domestic audience and has more to do with their internal politics than anything else," he told AFP.

A defense ministry spokesman said India was not planning any tit-for-tat missile test in response.

Military spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi told AFP the test took place early Tuesday from Sonmiani on the country's south coast, the same site of Friday's test.

Sonmiani lies 75 kilometers (47 miles) north of Pakistan's largest city Karachi and 500 kilometers (310 miles) east of the Iranian border.

Last Friday Pakistan tested another Shaheen missile. It was followed hours later by India's trial of a medium-range surface-to-surface Akash missile with a range of 25 kilometers (15 miles).

Both governments called the tests routine.

Information Minister Nisar Memon accused India of fueling an arms race after its test-firing, while India fired back saying Pakistan was "overreacting."

The tests Friday prompted condemnation from the United States, Britain, Japan and others, concerned Pakistan and India would contribute to escalating the arms race in South Asia, where both countries have fought three wars -- two of them over disputed Kashmir -- in the past 55 years.

India and Pakistan have around one million troops deployed along their common border, where tension has risen to flashpoint since an attack on India's parliament last December by separatist Kashmiri militants.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of funding the militants, while Pakistan says it only offers logistical and moral support.

SPACE.WIRE