ISLAMABAD: Hours after the United States announced additional sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, Islamabad condemned the move as “biased,” warning of its “dangerous implications for strategic stability in our region and beyond.”
The U.S. decision, outlined in a statement on the State Department’s website, cited the “continuing proliferation threat” posed by Pakistan’s development of long-range missiles. In response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office issued a forceful rebuttal, rejecting the sanctions imposed on the National Development Complex (NDC) and three commercial entities.
“Pakistan considers the U.S. decision to impose sanctions on NDC and three commercial entities as unfortunate and biased,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch in a statement on Thursday. She emphasized that Pakistan’s strategic capabilities are designed to safeguard its sovereignty and promote peace and stability in South Asia.
“The latest sanctions undermine the objective of peace and security by exacerbating military imbalances. Such policies have grave implications for strategic stability, not just in the region but globally,” the statement warned.
The Foreign Office described Pakistan’s strategic program as a “sacred trust” entrusted by its 240 million citizens and vowed to uphold it with utmost integrity. It also expressed disappointment over the sanctions targeting private commercial entities, characterizing them as unwarranted.
“Similar actions against commercial entities in the past have been based on unfounded suspicions and without evidence,” the statement noted, criticizing the perceived double standards in the global non-proliferation regime.
The Foreign Office accused the U.S. of selectively waiving licensing requirements for advanced military technology to other countries while penalizing Pakistan. “Such discriminatory practices erode the credibility of non-proliferation regimes and pose threats to regional and international peace and security,” it added.
I am an experienced writer, analyst, and author. My exposure in English journalism spans more than 28 years. In the past, I have been working with daily The Muslim (Lahore Bureau), daily Business Recorder (Lahore/Islamabad Bureaus), Daily Times, Islamabad, daily The Nation (Lahore and Karachi). With daily The Nation, I have served as Resident Editor, Karachi. Since 2009, I have been working as a Freelance Writer/Editor for American organizations.
