U.S. Sanctions on Missile Program are 'Biased and Political': Mumtaz Zahra Baloch

Pakistan has labeled U.S. sanctions on its ballistic missile program as 'biased and politically motivated.'

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of State announced that it was imposing sanctions on companies and an individual involved in supplying equipment to Pakistan's ballistic missile program. The U.S. claims that it is taking action against these five entities and one individual for their involvement in the proliferation of ballistic missiles and controlled missile equipment and technology.

In response, Pakistan's Foreign Office issued a statement on Saturday, criticizing the U.S. for including companies in the list based on mere suspicion, a practice seen before.

The statement mentioned that the U.S. had listed items as sensitive under broad provisions, even though these items were not controlled under any export control regimes.

According to Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, "It is widely acknowledged that some countries, which claim strict adherence to non-proliferation principles, have easily overlooked licensing conditions when providing advanced military technology to their favored states."

The Foreign Office was referring to the Biden administration's recent approval of advanced anti-submarine weapons for India.

The statement added that such double standards and discriminatory behavior damage the credibility of the global non-proliferation regime, exacerbate military imbalances, and threaten international peace and security.

The U.S. had stated on Thursday that it was particularly designating the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine-Building (RIA MB) under Executive Order 13382, which targets entities involved in weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. The U.S. believes that RIA MB has collaborated with Pakistan's National Development Complex (NDC) and supported Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile program, including the Shaheen-III and Ababeel missiles, by providing equipment for the testing of large-diameter rocket motors.

Additionally, the U.S. imposed sanctions under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), and the Export Control Reform Act (ECRA) on three Chinese entities, a Chinese individual, and one Pakistani entity for their activities related to the proliferation of ballistic missile technology.

The Chinese firms facing sanctions are Hubei Huachangda Intelligent Equipment Company, Universal Enterprise Limited, and Xi'an Longde Technology Development Company (Lontech), while the sanctioned Chinese individual is Luo Dongmei. The Pakistani company under sanctions is Innovative Equipment.

The sanctions were imposed because these entities and the individual knowingly transferred MTCR-controlled equipment and technology to a non-MTCR country for Category I missile programs.