Dr Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s former envoy to the United States, said on Friday that the recent US sanctions on Pakistani firms for their alleged involvement in the country’s ballistic missile programme will not impact or slow it down.

On Wednesday, the US said it was imposing additional sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, targeting four entities that it alleged were contributing to the proliferation or delivery of such weapons.

The US Department of State said in a statement that the White House will continue to act against proliferation and associated procurement activities of concern.

Speaking to Geo News today, Lodhi highlighted that the recent sanctions were nothing new and that the Biden administration had imposed sanctions six or seven times in the past four years.

“But one thing we need to keep in mind is that these kinds of sanctions don’t impact the health of Pakistan; Pakistan’s nuclear policy, or missile policy, can not slow down or stop because of these sanctions.

“History has told us that the US has been imposing restrictions ever since Pakistan began its nuclear programme. Their attempts were to shut down Pakistan’s nuclear programme or to completely weaken it so that Pakistan wouldn’t develop missiles. Their policy regarding has been completely unsuccessful,” she said.

The former ambassador also emphasised that the US policy towards Pakistan was “discriminatory” since it had never applied sanctions to India, whose missile programme was more advanced than Pakistan’s.

“They have ballistic missile defence systems which they have taken from the US, developed on their own and taken from Israel as well but sanctions were never applied on them,” she said. “This is a discriminatory policy but the impact on Pakistan will be zero.”

When asked by Geo News if she anticipated a significant shift in Pak-US relations after President-elect Donald Trump took office, Lodhi emphasised that Pakistan was not on the list of priorities for America’s foreign policy.

“Trump’s biggest foreign policy focus will be China, and 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 nonproliferation is an important issue for the Trump administration,” she said. “But naturally, it will have to be seen what foreign policies he actually focuses on.”

She noted that historically, the Republicans had not put as much emphasis on nuclear nonproliferation as Democrats.

“But as far as our mutual relationship is concerned, we must keep in mind that our relationship with the US is at a crossroads ever since they pulled out of Afghanistan.”

‘Biased’ US sanctions endanger regional, global peace: FO

Responding to the sanctions on Thursday, the Foreign Office (FO) had said they were “biased” and “endanger regional and international peace”.

“Pakistan considers the US decision to impose sanctions on NDC and three commercial entities as unfortunate and biased,” the FO said in a press release.

“Such double standards and discriminatory practices not only undermine the credibility of non-proliferation regimes but also endanger regional and international peace and security,” it added.

Asserting that Pakistan’s strategic capabilities were meant to “defend its sovereignty and preserve peace and stability in South Asia”, the FO said the latest instalment of sanctions “defies the objective of peace and security by aiming to accentuate military asymmetries”.

“Such policies have dangerous implications for strategic stability of our region and beyond,” the statement stressed.

Regretting the imposition of sanctions on the three Karachi-based private commercial entities, the FO said: “Similar listings of commercial entities in the past were based on mere doubts and suspicion without any evidence whatsoever.

“While claiming strict adherence to non-proliferation norms, licensing requirements for advanced military technology to other countries have been waived off in the past,” it noted.

The FO stated that Pakistan’s strategic programme was a “sacred trust bestowed by 240 million people upon its leadership”.

“The sanctity of this trust, held in the highest esteem across the entire political spectrum, cannot be compromised,” it asserted.