Pakistan’s missile programme is ‘emerging threat’, top US official says
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Commuters riding past a replica of Pakistan’s Ghauri ballistic missile in Islamabad on Dec 19.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - A senior White House official on Dec 19 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 US.
Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer’s surprise revelation 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, the victor in three major wars they have fought since 1947.
Speaking to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Mr 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, Mr 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,” Mr Finer said.
His speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions
The Pakistani embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Islamabad casts its long-range ballistic missile programme as a deterrent against Indian aggression and intended to maintain regional stability.
Two senior administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the US concerns with Pakistan’s missile programme have been longstanding and stemmed from the sizes of the rocket engines being developed.
The threat posed to the US is up to a decade away, said one official.
Mr 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”.
Mr Finer included himself among senior US officials who he said repeatedly have raised concerns about the programme with top Pakistani officials.
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 has been critical of warm ties US President Joe Biden has forged with its long-time foe India, and maintains close ties with China. Some Chinese entities have been slapped with US sanctions for supplying Islamabad’s ballistic missile programme.
It conducted its first nuclear weapons test in 1998 – more than 20 years after India’s first test blast – 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.
Relations between the US and Pakistan have undergone major ups and downs. Close Cold War ties saw them support Afghan rebels against the 1979 to 1989 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.
Pakistan was also a key partner in the US fight against Al-Qaeda following the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the US, and has been a major non-Nato ally since 2004.
But ties have been hurt by coups staged by the Pakistani military, its support for the Taliban’s 1996 to 2001 rule and its nuclear weapons programme.
Several experts said Mr Finer’s speech came as a major surprise.
“For a senior US official to publicly link concerns about proliferation in Pakistan to a future direct threat to the US homeland – this is a mighty dramatic development,” said Mr Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Centre think-tank. REUTERS
