Pakistan says won’t let anyone cast doubt on its nuclear program’s safety

Pakistan's military vehicles carry ballistic missiles while participating in an annual parade to mark the country's National Day in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 23, 2021. (AFP/File)

• The foreign office issued the statement only a day after the US mentioned Pakistan’s ‘unsafeguarded nuclear activities’
• The United States also placed several Chinese and Pakistani entities on its trade blacklist

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it would not allow anyone to cast doubt on the safety of its nuclear program only a day after the United States announced it had blacklisted several entities for contributing to Pakistan’s “unsafeguarded nuclear activities or ballistic missile program.”
The US commerce department upgraded its Entity List by adding the names of 27 foreign individuals and entities who were thought to be engaged in activities considered detrimental to the American national security and foreign policy interests.
Among them, 16 were said to be involved in the development of Pakistan’s nuclear and ballistic missile program.
“Let me say this clearly that Pakistan’s nuclear facilities and program are totally safeguarded,” the country’s foreign office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar told reporters during his weekly media briefing in Islamabad. “We do not accept any insinuations in this regard.”
Refusing to provide an elaborate answer, he said the government was still evaluating the development.
“We have seen the report,” he added. “At this stage, I can only say that we are reviewing it and will be offering our detailed response later.”
The US put individuals and entities from Russia, China, Japan, Singapore and Pakistan on its trade blacklist for contributing to the development of China’s quantum computing applications for military use, Pakistan’s “nuclear and missile proliferation,” and advancement of the Russian military.
US Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo said in a statement the move would help prevent US technology from supporting the development of Chinese and Russian “military advancement and activities of non-proliferation concern like Pakistan’s unsafeguarded nuclear activities or ballistic missile program.”
China also criticized the US for misusing its state power, as its embassy in Washington accused the Americans of employing “the catch-all concept of national security … to suppress and restrict Chinese enterprises.”
“China is firmly opposed to that,” it added.