‘Pakistan cannot accept caps on its missile capabilities’

Islamabad : Tahir Hussain Andrabi, DG, ACDIS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has reaffirmed that.

Andrabi was addressing a Roundtable Discussion on “Latest discriminatory US sanctions and assertions about Pakistan’s missile programme – implications and challenges” hosted here by Institute of Strategic Studies (ISS). Andrabi said that arms control negotiations would be meaningful only in the bilateral context and the US should facilitate such a dialogue in our region. He argued that the parameters of the US sanctions need to be understood. He stated that sanctions were not new but there was a visible spike in the last two years. He noted that the sanctions are a manifestation of geopolitical contestations. Further, it also showed the gaps in export control regimes where the legitimate needs of states to access technology for peaceful purposes are being blocked. He underscored the challenges to engage constructively with the US on the issue.

Dr Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, said that US sanctions are part of a political chessboard and represent a practical measure to discredit Pakistan. He stated that essentially the US was advocating that Pakistan must accept India as a major power in the region which is not acceptable to Pakistan. The US intent with the sanctions is to cap Pakistan’s nuclear programme, and, if possible, to roll it back. He observed that the US-China strategic competition, which was likely to intensify in the coming year also plays a part in the political chessboard. India tried to cash in on the opportunities provided by geostrategic dynamics to put pressure on Pakistan, he concluded.

Zamir Akram, adviser, Strategic Planning Division (SPD), stated that the US sanctions go back a long time. When India conducted a nuclear test in 1974, the US imposed sanctions on Pakistan to prevent it from developing its nuclear programme. Pakistan-specific sanctions were also imposed after the 1998 Indian nuclear tests. He underscored that there always was US discriminatory treatment against Pakistan vis-à-vis nuclear and missile programmes.

He also noted that the strategic partnership between Pakistan and China may have been a factor in shaping US policy, including the decision to impose sanctions on Pakistan. The pressure on Pakistan was also part of the strategy to contain China. He argued that Pakistan cannot cap its missile capabilities. In addition, he emphasised the need to develop its missile programme to counter the threat from India and underscored the need to develop a robust space programme.