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US says Pakistan developing missiles that eventually could hit US


FILE - Pakistani military personnel stand beside a surface-to-surface ballistic missile during a Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2019. A White House official said on Dec. 19, 2024, that Pakistan is developing missile capabilities that could reach the U.S.
FILE - Pakistani military personnel stand beside a surface-to-surface ballistic missile during a Pakistan Day military parade in Islamabad on March 23, 2019. A White House official said on Dec. 19, 2024, that Pakistan is developing missile capabilities that could reach the U.S.

A senior White House official on Thursday said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets outside of South Asia, including in the United States.

In his stunning revelation about the onetime close U.S. partner, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Islamabad's conduct raised "real questions" about the aims of its ballistic missile program.

"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.

"Pakistan has developed increasingly sophisticated missile technology, from long-range ballistic missile systems to equipment that would enable the testing of significantly larger rocket motors," he said.

If those trends continue, Finer said, "Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States."

His speech came a day after Washington announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan's ballistic missile development program, including on the state-run defense agency that oversees the program.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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