No compromise on Pakistan’s nuclear programme: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Tuesday that there will be no compromise on Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

Addressing the federal cabinet meeting today, the prime minister said Pakistan’s nuclear programme is solely for defensive purposes and would not be used aggressively.

The premier added that the recent sanctions placed by the United States on four Pakistani firms for their alleged involvement in the country’s ballistic missile programme had “no justification”.

“The sanctions placed upon our National Development Complex and other entities have no justification,” he told the cabinet.

“Pakistan has absolutely no intention to have an aggressive nuclear system. It is 100% for Pakistan’s defence; nothing else,” PM Shehbaz said.

Last week, the US said it was imposing new sanctions related to nuclear-armed Pakistan’s long-range ballistic-missile programme, including on the state-owned defense agency that oversees the programme.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that the measures slapped on the National Development Complex and three firms were imposed under an executive order that “targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.”

In response, Pakistan termed the decision to impose sanctions on National Development Complex and three commercial entities as “unfortunate and biased”.

Later, US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said Pakistan’s development of long-range ballistic missiles made it an “emerging threat”.

Finer said Islamabad’s conduct raised “real questions” about the aims of its ballistic missile programme.

“Candidly, it’s hard for us to see Pakistan’s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States,” Finer told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace audience.