Pakistan on Saturday slammed a United States official for assuming that Islamabad would use its nuclear missiles for hostile intent, calling it “perplexing as well as illogical”.
In a statement, the Foreign Office said: “Pakistan has made it abundantly clear that our strategic program 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.”
Senior White House official, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer, on Thursday said Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets outside of South Asia, including the United States.
Islamabad’s conduct raised “real questions” about its intentions, he said. “Candidly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” Finer said in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
His comment came a day after the United States said it was imposing new sanctions related to Pakistan’s long-range ballistic-missile programme, including on the state-owned defence agency that oversees the programme.
State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the measures slapped on the National Development Complex and three firms were imposed under an executive order that “targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.”
However, the Foreign Office, in its latest statement, said the alleged threat perception from Pakistan’s missile capabilities and delivery means, raised by the US official was unfortunate.
“These allegations are unfounded, devoid of rationality and sense of history,” it said. Since 1954, Pakistan and the US have enjoyed a positive and broad-ranging relationship, the statement added.
The recent spate of US allegations towards a major non-NATO ally would be unhelpful for the overall relationship, especially in the absence of any evidence in this regard, the FO said.
“Pakistan has never had any ill-intention towards the US in any form or manner, and this fundamental reality has not changed,” the statement mentioned.
On the contrary, it mentioned, that Pakistan has made monumental sacrifices for this relationship and continues to suffer hugely in sustaining the onslaught of the aftermath of US policies in the region.
The Foreign Office said that it was regrettable that the US official alluded to bracketing Pakistan with those who are perceived to be in an adversarial relationship with the US.
While ignoring and shielding the manifestations of a much more potent missile capability in our eastern neighbourhood, it said, concerns on Pakistani capabilities are being raised seemingly at the behest of others to further accentuate the already fragile strategic stability in the region.
“We wish to reiterate that Pakistan’s strategic capabilities are meant to defend its sovereignty and preserve peace and stability in South Asia,” the statement mentioned.
Pakistan cannot abdicate its right to develop capabilities that are commensurate with the need to maintain credible minimum deterrence as well as evolving and dynamic threats, the MoFA said.
Since 2012, the Foreign Office said, when the US officials started broaching the subject, different Pakistani governments, leadership and officials, have endeavoured from time to time, to positively address and remove the misplaced US concerns.
In view of the profound sanctity of the strategic programme for the people of Pakistan and for the country’s defence, “our clear iterations and manifestation of intent and purpose thereof, any attempt to seek intrusion into it, in any form or manner, on any pretext whatsoever, is neither thinkable nor possible”.
“There is unshakeable resolve and complete consensus on this aspect across the entire political and social spectrum of the country,” the statement mentioned.
“Pakistan has always sought to engage constructively with the US on all issues, including the need to pursue a balanced approach to security and stability in our region. We have a long history of cooperation and wish to build on this strong legacy.”
