The military establishment in Pakistan is learnt to be secretively developing a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could reach the United States, intelligence agencies in Washington have said. There are also reports that Pakistan is looking to upgrade its nuclear arsenal with support from China after the Operation Sindoor offensive launched by India.
Quoting US officials, the report said that if Pakistan goes on to acquire such a missile, Washington would designate it as a nuclear adversary. Any country possessing nuclear weapons that are considered a potential threat or challenge to the US is seen as a nuclear adversary. As of now, Russia, China and North Korea are considered adversaries by the US.
“If Pakistan acquires an ICBM, Washington will have no choice but to treat the country as a nuclear adversary. No other country with ICBMs that can target the United States is considered a friend,” the report quoted US officials as saying.
Pakistan has been claiming that its nuclear program and policy on developing short and medium-range missiles is strictly meant to act as a deterrent against India. ICBMs, which can be armed with both nuclear and conventional warheads, can hit targets over 5,500 km away. At present, Pakistan has no ICBMs.
Bringing a number of Indian cities under its range, Pakistan had tested the surface-to-surface medium-range ballistic missile Shaheen-III, which can hit targets over 2,700 km, in 2022. Experts say that Pakistan’s idea behind developing an intercontinental ballistic missile could be to deter the US from trying to eradicate its nuclear arsenal in case of a preventive attack and also stop it from intervening on India’s behalf if the neighbouring countries go on an offensive against each other again.
The US is viewing the development with a lot of concern. Washington had imposed fresh sanctions relating to Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program last year. The sanctions were imposed on the National Development Complex, the state-owned defence agency overseeing the missile program, and three other firms. The US froze any US property belonging to the entities and barred American firms from doing business with them. Even as Pakistan called the move “biased”, the US action was based on a State Department factsheet which said that Islamabad sought to obtain components for its long-range ballistic missile program. Although Pakistan has about 170 nuclear warheads, it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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