Washington: The White House has reserved its comments on the back-to-back missile tests carried out by Pakistan and India even as the US State Department went on record expressing its disappointment with both on October 5.

White House press secretary Ari Fleischer, when asked specifically whether he had any reaction to the Pakistani test, replied "I have noted reports about India and Pakistan's tests and have no comments on them."

When a correspondent persisted and asked, he said "We noted the tests, we noted the nature of the tests, and we have no comment."

Pakistan had on October 4 test-fired its nuclear-capable offensive medium range missile Hatf-VI. Within hours of the Pakistani test, India test-fired its own medium- range,surface-to-air, defensive Akash missile.

US officials, on the other hand, were semi-officially expressing disappointment with the Pakistani test when news came of the Indian Akash test and they quickly switched to voicing disappointment with both.

Asked again about the Pakistani test at a briefing by Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said, "We don't think that is helpful, given the tensions in the region, the missile tests of Pakistan as well as India, and we have generally said these things heightened the tensions in the region. So we would ask both countries to consider that."

PTI