A senior White House official revealed on Thursday that nuclear-armed Pakistan is advancing its long-range ballistic missile capabilities, posing a potential threat to targets far beyond South Asia, including the United States. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer’s statement underscored the strained relations between Washington and Islamabad since the 2021 U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Finer’s remarks, delivered at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pointed to Pakistan’s development of advanced missile technology, including larger rocket engines and long-range ballistic systems. He warned that if these trends continue, Pakistan could achieve the capability to strike the U.S. homeland.
“The number of nuclear-armed states with missiles capable of reaching the U.S. is very small and typically adversarial,” Finer noted, listing Russia, China, and North Korea. “It’s hard for us to view Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States.”
The revelation followed Washington’s announcement of new sanctions targeting Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, including measures against its state-run defense agency. Pakistan’s embassy has yet to respond.
Islamabad maintains that its nuclear and missile programs are defensive measures against neighboring India, with whom it has fought three wars since 1947. However, two senior U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, indicated that U.S. concerns stem from Pakistan’s development of more powerful rocket engines. One official estimated the threat to the U.S. is likely a decade away.
Despite repeated U.S. diplomatic efforts to address these concerns, Pakistani officials have dismissed them as biased. Finer questioned Pakistan’s motivations for developing capabilities that could be directed against the U.S., especially given their history as partners in counter-terrorism and security.
The deteriorating relationship has been further complicated by the U.S.’s growing ties with India and Pakistan’s close relationship with China. Pakistan, which conducted its first nuclear test in 1998, now reportedly holds about 170 nuclear warheads according to the Bulletin of the American Scientists.
Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center described Finer’s comments as a “dramatic development,” marking a significant shift in the public stance of U.S. officials toward Pakistan’s missile ambitions.
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