ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former envoy to the United States, Dr Maleeha Lodhi, said on Friday that recent US sanctions against Pakistani companies for their alleged involvement in the country’s ballistic missile program will have no impact or slow it down.
On Wednesday, the United States announced it was imposing additional sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, targeting four entities it said contributed to the proliferation or delivery of such weapons.
Speaking to a private television channel, Lodhi stressed that the recent sanctions were not new and that the Biden administration had imposed sanctions six or seven times in the last four years.
“But one thing we need to keep in mind is that these kinds of sanctions do not impact the health of Pakistan; Pakistan’s nuclear policy, or its missile policy, cannot slow down or stop because of these sanctions.
“History tells us that the United States has imposed restrictions since Pakistan launched its nuclear program. Their attempts included ending Pakistan’s nuclear program or weakening it altogether so that Pakistan would not develop missiles. Their policy on this has been a total failure,” she said.
The former ambassador also pointed out that US policy towards Pakistan was “discriminatory” as they never applied sanctions to India, whose missile program was more advanced than Pakistan’s .
“They have ballistic missile defense systems that they took from the United States, which they developed themselves and which they also took from Israel, but no sanctions have been applied against them,” she declared. “This is a discriminatory policy but the impact on Pakistan will be zero.”
When asked by Geo News if she foresees a significant change in Pakistan-US relations after President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Lodhi stressed that Pakistan is not on the policy’s priority list American foreigner.
“Trump’s foreign policy will mainly focus on China, then the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Gaza and what’s happening in Syria. These will be among their priorities.
“Pakistan is not the priority, nor do I think nuclear non-proliferation is an important issue for the Trump administration,” she said. “But we will obviously have to see what foreign policy he really focuses on.”
She noted that historically, Republicans have not placed as much emphasis on nuclear nonproliferation as Democrats.
“But when it comes to our mutual relations, we must keep in mind that our relationship with the United States has been at a crossroads since it withdrew from Afghanistan. »
