Military might: Commuters riding past a replica of Pakistan’s Ghauri ballistic missile along a road in Islamabad. — AFP
A SENIOR White House official said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an “emerging threat” to the United States.
Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer’s surprise revelation on Thursday underscored how far the once-close ties between Washington and Islamabad have deteriorated since the 2021 US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
It also raised questions about whether Pakistan has shifted the objectives of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes long intended to counter those of India, with which it has fought three major wars since 1947.
Speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Finer said Pakistan has pursued “increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment, that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors”.
If those trends continue, Finer said, “Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States.”
The number of nuclear-armed states with missiles that can reach the US homeland “is very small and they tend to be adversarial,” he continued, naming Russia, North Korea and China.
“So, candidly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States.”
His speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile development programme, including for the first time against the state-run defence agency that oversees the programme.
Islamabad casts its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes as deterrents against Indian aggression and intended to maintain regional stability.
Two senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the US concerns with Pakistan’s missile programme have been long-standing and stemmed from the sizes of the rocket engines being developed.The threat posed to the United States is up to a decade away, according to one official.
Finer’s comments, the officials said, were intended to press Pakistani officials to address why they are developing more powerful rocket engines, something they have refused to do.
“They don’t acknowledge our concerns. They tell us we are biased,” said the second US official, adding that Pakistani officials have wrongly implied that US sanctions on their missile programme are intended “to handicap their ability to defend against India”.
Finer included himself among senior US officials who he said repeatedly have raised concerns about the missile programme with top Pakistani officials to no avail.Washington and Islamabad, he noted, had been “long-time partners” on development, counter- terrorism and security.
“That makes us question even more why Pakistan will be motivated to develop a capability that could be used against us.”
Pakistan conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1998 and has built an extensive arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of lofting nuclear warheads.
The Bulletin of the American Scientists research organisation estimates that Pakistan has a stockpile of about 170 warheads. — Reuters
