Military personnel stand beside a Shaheen III surface-to-surface ballistic missile during Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad, Pakistan March 23, 2019.— Reuters Pakistan on Saturday firmly rejected US sanctions on its tech companies, which were accused of ties to the country’s ballistic missile programme, labelling the unilateral action as unjust, baseless, and unnecessary. “Pakistan considers this action as biased and politically-motivated. Similar listings of commercial entities in the past were based on mere suspicion; involved items not listed under any export control regime and yet were considered sensitive under broad, catch-all provisions,” said Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Mofa), in a statement.
“It is widely known that some countries while claiming strict adherence to nonproliferation norms, have conveniently waived licensing requirements for advanced military technologies to their favoured states.” Baloch called the US sanctions “double standards and discriminatory” saying that such “practices undermine the credibility of global nonproliferation regimes, increase military asymmetries, and endanger international peace and security.” On September 13, 2024, the United States Department of State announced that it had acted against five entities and one individual involved in the expansion of ballistic missiles and controlled missile equipment and technology to Pakistan. Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday alleged that the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry had worked with Pakistan to procure equipment for testing rocket motors for the Shaheen-3 and Ababeel systems and potentially for larger systems.
The US government’s rationale for these sanctions was based on the belief that these companies were involved in supplying critical components for the development and production of ballistic missiles. These components, according to the US, were being used by Pakistan to enhance its military capabilities. The sanctions imposed by the US aimed to disrupt the flow of these critical components and hinder Pakistan’s efforts to develop its ballistic missile program.
China will “firmly protect” Chinese companies’ and individuals’ rights and interests, Liu said.
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