WASHINGTON: A day after the United States imposed sanctions on Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, a senior White House official on Thursday said the country is developing missiles that could eventually hit targets outside South Asia, including the United States. can target
Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Feiner said Islamabad’s behavior raised “real questions” about its intentions.
“Frankly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” Finer said in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The latest statement came just a day after the US State Department said it was imposing additional sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, targeting four facilities it said were targeting Contributing to the proliferation or delivery of weapons.
A statement on the State Department’s website said the decision was made “in light of the continued proliferation threat of Pakistan’s long-range missile development.”
It added that four entities are being designated for sanctions under Executive Order (EO) 13382, which targeted weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.
“Pakistan’s National Development Complex – which is responsible for Pakistan’s ballistic missile program and has worked to procure items to advance Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program – and Affiliates International, Akhtar & Sons Pvt. Ltd., and Rockside Enterprise, which are working to supply equipment and supplies to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, including its long-range missile program, are being designated as EO 13382 Sec 1(a)(ii) to engage in, or attempt to engage in, activities or transactions that have materially contributed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means; , or threatens to materially contribute to, the delivery (including deliverable missiles of) such weapons, including the manufacture, acquisition, possession, development, transportation, transfer of such items by Pakistan, or Use,” read the statement.
However, Islamabad reacted strongly to the development, calling the decision “prejudicial” and asserting that the US move has “dangerous implications for our strategic stability in the region and beyond”. .
“Pakistan’s strategic capabilities are aimed at defending its sovereignty and maintaining peace and stability in South Asia. The latest round of sanctions negates the peace and security objective by intensifying the military imbalance. Forward,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in a statement.
The Foreign Office emphasized that the county’s strategic program is a sacred trust entrusted to its leadership by 240 million people, adding that the sanctity of this trust, which is most respected across the political spectrum, It is kept in, but cannot be compromised.
In September this year, Washington imposed sanctions on five entities and one individual involved in the expansion of ballistic missiles and control of missile equipment and technology to Pakistan.
Department spokesman Matthew Miller alleged that the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for the Machine Building Industry has worked with Pakistan to procure equipment to test rocket motors for the Shaheen 3 and Ababil systems and possibly larger systems. .
However, Pakistan has categorically rejected the “unilateral” US sanctions on technology companies linked to the country’s ballistic missile program, calling them “unfair, baseless and unnecessary”.
“Pakistan considers this action to be biased and politically motivated. In the past, similar listings of trading entities were based on suspicion; involved items not listed under any export control system and yet broad, catch-all provisions.” are considered sensitive,” said. This was said by Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Similarly, the US in October 2023 imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies for supplying missile-related items to Pakistan.
The sanctions also include Chinese firms Hubei Huachangda Intelligent Equipment Co, Universal Enterprise, and Xi’an Longde Technology Development Co. Innovative equipment based in Pakistan and a Chinese national were also banned for the deliberate transfer of equipment under the missile technology sanctions.