By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-01 12:31:30 | Updated at 2025-01-04 07:25:15
2 days ago
On December 18, the United States imposed sanctions on Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme under executive order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. Sanctions were imposed on four Pakistani entities, including the state-owned National Development Complex. This round of sanctions is the fourth of its kind in 14 months.
In October 2023, the US sanctioned three Chinese entities for allegedly supplying Pakistan with materials that could be used in its missile programme. Similarly, in April last year, the US sanctioned three Chinese companies and a Belarusian firm, and in September, it sanctioned four Chinese firms and a Chinese individual for working with Pakistan on its missile programme.
The latest round of sanctions, however, stands out as it is the first time in recent history that the US has openly sanctioned a state-owned company.
US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, speaking at an event organised by the Arms Control Association and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, spelled out the rationale for the sanctions, alleging that Pakistan is developing large rocket motors that could eventually provide it with the ability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States.
Pakistan’s foreign office, in response, termed the sanctions unfortunate and biased. In a statement, it said: “Pakistan has also made it abundantly clear that our strategic programme and allied capabilities are solely meant to deter and thwart a clear and visible existential threat from our neighbourhood and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country. Hence, any irrational assumption of a hostile intent from Pakistan by any other country including the US is perplexing as well as illogical.”
Currently, Pakistan’s medium-range ballistic missile, the Shaheen-III, is the longest-range missile in its arsenal. It can travel 2,750km and has a motor with a diameter of 1.4m. For Pakistan to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the US, the range would need to be about 12,000km.
The United States sanctioning Pakistani companies on the basis of unproven assumptions will strain relations between the two countries. Pakistan has, on multiple occasions, reiterated its stance that its nuclear capabilities are only to deter India.
