An official statement from the defence ministry late in the evening said, India had ``seen press reports about the officially-claimed test firing of an intermediate-range missile by Pakistan.

``We are aware of consistent outside assistance to Pakistan in this field despite the existence of multilateral export control regimes, unilateral declarations of restraint and supply restrictions in producer countries,'' the statement said. Ministry sources pointed out that while it was ``well-documented'' that China and North Korea had been providing missile spares as well as technology to Islamabad, Beijing had consistently denied it was doing so. The sources also stressed the inanity of export control regimes like the US-sponsored Missile Control Technology Regime (MTCR), which hadnot been able to prevent countries like Pakistan from acquiring this technology. ``India will draw appropriate conclusions from these developments and take resolute steps to meet any threat to its national security,'' the statement added.

Some analysts, however, wondered whether Pakistan had actually test-fired such a flight over water or merely tested the engine of the missile on land. They pointed out that international law demanded that test firing over water be preceded by warnings to ships in the area to get out of danger.

Only last month, press reports from Islamabad had said that Pak had given up the idea of test-firing its indigenously-developed missile under pressure from the US.