Washington/Islamabad, Dec 20 (UNI) In a surprise statement coming ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as president, Washington has termed Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missiles programme as an "emerging threat".

As per a senior White House official, Islamabad’s work on its long-range ballistic missile capabilities eventually could allow it to strike targets beyond not just the Indian subcontinent, and potentially even the USA in the future, which has made it a cause of concern.

Adding that the two countries have been long-time partners, particularly on the issues of “counter-terrorism and security”, US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer questioned whether the country’s development of its long-range nuclear capabilities was merely intended for India, or whether there was a shift in priorities for Islamabad.

Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, an American think tank, 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 these trends continue, Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States, raising real questions about Pakistan's intentions”, he said as per Sama TV.

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," Finer said.

The Deputy NSA’s speech came just a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan's ballistic missile development program, including for the first time against the National Development Complex (NDC); the country’s state-run aerospace and defense agency that oversees the program. This underscored Washington’s ever-growing mistrust of Islamabad, amidst the already strained relations.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States had soured in 2021, after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover, and Finer’s statement further highlighted the ongoing deterioration of the once strong political-military ties between the two countries, amid Pakistan’s growing ties with China, and the USA’s growing closeness with India.

UNI RN