new delhi, august 13 With Pakistan claiming today that its test-firing of Hatf-7 Babur cruise missile was to address concerns about New Delhi’s move to buy missiles and missile-defence equipment from the US and Israel, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said India’s indigenous guided missile programme was on schedule and progressing without glitches.

The minister was addressing troops this evening ahead of Independence Day celebrations on Monday.

While Islamabad was careful three days ago not to make a direct comparison between the Hatf programme and India’s cruise missiles, its Army spokesperson Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan today said they were compelled to test Hatf-7 by India’s interest in the Israeli Arrow missile and the US-made anti-missile defence system, Patriot-3. Sultan told a local television station that acquisition of missiles would “tilt the balance of power in favour of India”.

“It is imperative to establish a balance of power in the region to maintain peace. Otherwise, the weaker party would always remain under threat by the powerful one,” he said.

However, officials working closely with the Indian guided weapons programme debunked claims by Pakistan that Babur missile — considering that it travels at lower altitudes — can penetrate radar cover and anti-missile defence shields.

“Modern missile shields like the Patriot are built with radar modes to specifically detect and destroy low-flying incoming threats including UAVs and cruise missiles,” said an official.

Declaring that fencing of the 742-km stretch of the LoC in J-K had been completed, Mukherjee said in spite of this, infiltration of terrorists had seen a sharp rise in the last two months.