Pakistan test-fires second missile
 |  The Shaheen is an intermediate range ballistic missile developed by Pakistan. |
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 Pakistan's prime minister visits India in an effort to cement diplomatic gains between the two nations.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan has test-fired a medium-range nuclear-capable missile, the second in just over a week, according to a military statement.
Wednesday's test comes despite a recent thaw in relations with nuclear rival and neighbor India.
"Pakistan today carried out a successful test fire of its indigenously developed, medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, Hatf-IV Shaheen-I," a statement issued by the Pakistan armed forces said.
The Shaheen has a range of about 700 kilometers (435 miles).
The latest test comes nine days after Pakistan test-fired a Ghaznavi missile, a short-range nuclear-capable missile.
At the time, officials said they would carry out more tests in the coming days, The Associated Press reported.
India tested a missile the following day, in the latest round of launches by the two rivals.
Pakistan became a declared nuclear power on May 28, 1998, when it conducted underground nuclear tests in response to those carried out by India. It tested its first missile the same year.
Pakistan and India have a history of troubled relations since they gained independence from Britain in 1947 and have fought three wars since then.
But in the past week, Pakistan's President General Pervez Musharraf told CNN he was "very optimistic" about relations with India.
In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Sunday, Musharraf said both nations needed to move ahead on finding a solution to the disputed territory of Kashmir, a region that has sparked two wars between the South Asian nuclear rivals and almost sent them to war a third time.
He said there was a "lot of optimism" in the statement on Kashmir that he and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued after they met in New York in September.
"We are supposed to be discussing all options for the resolution of the Kashmiri dispute in a purposeful manner. So therefore, I keep saying there's a light at the end of the tunnel," Musharraf told Blitzer.
Late last month, Pakistan's new prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, visited India in a bid to build on growing diplomatic maneuvers between the neighbors.
In his first visit to New Delhi since taking office in August, Aziz met Dr Singh on November 24.
Although Aziz's visit to India was in his capacity as the chairman of a South Asian regional body, India and Pakistan discussed issues of mutual concern, including Kashmir.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
