FO says alleged threat perception raised by US official unfortunate

Pakistan has slammed an official of the United States for assuming that it would use its nuclear missiles for hostile intent and called it “perplexing as well as illogical”.

The Foreign Office in a statement today said: “Pakistan has made it abundantly clear that our strategic program and allied capabilities are solely meant to deter and thwart a clear and visible existential threat from our neighbourhood and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country.”

Earlier, Senior White House official and Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer had said that Islamabad is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities, which eventually could allow it to target outside of South Asia, including the United States.

He said that the Islamabad’s conduct raised “real questions” about its intentions and added that candidly, it’s hard for us to see the south Asian country’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States.

The Foreign Office, however, said the alleged threat perception from Pakistan’s missile capabilities and delivery means, raised by the US official was very unfortunate.

It said that these charges are unfounded, devoid of rationality and sense of history. It further said that since 1954, Pakistan and the US have enjoyed a positive and broad-ranging relationship.