Pakistan slams US sanctions on ballistic missile programme
Al Jazeera
Pakistan’s foreign ministry warns sanctions have ‘dangerous implications’ for the ‘strategic stability of the region’.
Pakistan has denounced new US sanctions on the country’s ballistic missile programme as “discriminatory” and said they put the region’s peace and security at risk.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday warned in a statement that the sanctions “have dangerous implications for strategic stability of our region and beyond”.
It also cast doubt on US allegations that targeted businesses were involved in weapons proliferation because previous sanctions “were based on mere doubts and suspicion without any evidence whatsoever”.
It also accused the US of “double standards” for waiving licensing requirements for advanced military technology to other countries. The sanctions freeze any US property belonging to the targeted businesses and bar Americans from doing business with them.
The US Department of State said one such sanctioned entity, the Islamabad-based National Development Complex, worked to acquire items for developing Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile programme that includes the SHAHEEN series of ballistic missiles.
