US claim about Pakistan’s missile reach outside South Asia shocks close ally

A day after Washington slapped sanctions on Pakistan’s state-owned missile development agency and three of its vendor companies, a senior White House official accused the country of developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that could eventually allow it to strike targets outside of South Asia, including in the United States.

In his stunning revelation about the onetime close US ally in the War on Terror, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said Islamabad’s conduct raised “real questions” about the aims of its ballistic missile programme.

“Candidly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” Reuters quoted Finer as saying at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“Pakistan has developed increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors,” he said.

If those trends continue, Finer said, “Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States.”

His speech came a day after the US State Department announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile development programme, against the National Development Complex (NDC) and three Karachi-based companies — Akhtar and Sons Private Limited, Affiliates International, and Rockside Enterprise.

While it did not offer any immediate reaction to Finer’s claim, the Foreign Office had, earlier on Thursday, denounced the US sanctions as “discriminatory”, warning they could exacerbate the regional power imbalance.

“Such double standards and discriminatory practices not only undermine the credibility of non-proliferation regimes but also endanger regional and international peace and security,” it said.

In a strongly worded statement, FO reminded that its strategic program was defensive in nature. “Pakistan’s strategic capabilities are meant to defend its sovereignty and preserve peace and stability in South Asia,” the FO said.

The US sanctions were imposed under Executive Order 13382, aimed at alleged proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

The FO statement decried sanctions against private commercial entities and rejected the accusations against them, describing them as based on “mere doubts and suspicion without any evidence.” It further criticised what it termed the US’ “double standards”, citing past waivers of advanced military technology transfers to other countries — a reference to India.

“Such policies have dangerous implications for the strategic stability of our region and beyond,” the statement added.