Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former envoy to the United States, said on Friday that the recent US sanctions on Pakistani firms for their alleged involvement in the country’s ballistic missile programme will not impact or slow it down.
On Wednesday, the US said it was imposing additional sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, targeting four entities that it alleged were contributing to the proliferation or delivery of such weapons.
The US Department of State said in a statement that the White House will continue to act against proliferation and associated procurement activities of concern.
Speaking to Geo News today, Lodhi highlighted that the recent sanctions were nothing new and that the Biden administration in the past four years had imposed sanctions six or seven times.
“But one thing we need to remember is that these kinds of sanctions don’t impact the health of Pakistan; Pakistan’s nuclear policy, or missile policy, will not slow down or stop.
“History has told us that ever since Pakistan began its nuclear programme, the US has been imposing restrictions. They were trying to shut down Pakistan’s nuclear programme or weaken it, or try that Pakistan doesn’t develop missiles,” she said.
The former ambassador also emphasised that the sanctions were “discriminatory” since the US had never applied them to India, whose missile programme was more advanced than Pakistan’s.
“They have what we call D&D (decontamination and decommissioning) systems, which are ballistic missile defence systems, which they have taken from America, developed on their own, taken from Israel as well.
“America has never sanctioned them,” she said. “This is a discriminatory policy of theirs, but the impact on Pakistan will be zero.”
When asked by Geo News if she anticipated a significant shift in Pak-US relations after President-elect Donald Trump took office, Lodhi emphasised that Pakistan was not on the list of priorities for America’s foreign policy.
“Trump’s biggest foreign policy focus will be China, and then the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza, what’s happening in Syria.
“Pakistan is not the priority. I don’t think nuclear nonproliferation is an important issue for Trump,” she said. “But naturally, it will have to be seen what foreign policies he actually focuses on.”
She noted that historically, the Republicans had not put as much emphasis on nuclear nonproliferation as Democrats.
“But as far as our mutual relationship is concerned, we must keep in mind that our relationship with the US is at a crossroads ever since they pulled out of Afghanistan.”
‘Biased’ US sanctions endanger regional, global peace: FO
Responding to the sanctions on Thursday, the Foreign Office (FO) had said they were “biased” and “endanger regional and international peace”.
“Pakistan considers the US decision to impose sanctions on NDC and three commercial entities as unfortunate and biased,” the FO said in a press release.
“Such double standards and discriminatory practices not only undermine the credibility of non-proliferation regimes but also endanger regional and international peace and security,” it added.
Asserting that Pakistan’s strategic capabilities were meant to “defend its sovereignty and preserve peace and stability in South Asia”, the FO said the latest instalment of sanctions “defies the objective of peace and security by aiming to accentuate military asymmetries”.
“Such policies have dangerous implications for strategic stability of our region and beyond,” the statement stressed.
Regretting the imposition of sanctions on the three Karachi-based private commercial entities, the FO said: “Similar listings of commercial entities in the past were based on mere doubts and suspicion without any evidence whatsoever.
“While claiming strict adherence to non-proliferation norms, licensing requirements for advanced military technology to other countries have been waived off in the past,” it noted.
The FO stated that Pakistan’s strategic programme was a “sacred trust bestowed by 240 million people upon its leadership”.
“The sanctity of this trust, held in the highest esteem across the entire political spectrum, cannot be compromised,” it asserted.
