Pakistan has condemned what it perceives as the “political manipulation of export controls” following the United States’ decision to impose sanctions on four entities allegedly involved in supplying “missile-applicable items” to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, as announced by the Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday.
The US State Department asserted on Friday evening that the entities, three Chinese and one from Belarus, were assisting Pakistan’s efforts in developing long-range missiles.
The statement emphasized that the objective of the sanctions is not punitive but to encourage positive changes in behavior.
The entities subjected to sanctions include the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant based in Belarus, Xi’an Longde Technology Development Company Limited and Tianjin Creative Source International Trade Co Ltd from China, and Granpect Company Limited.
Under Executive Order 13382, all property and interests in property of the designated entities within the US or controlled by US persons are now blocked. Moreover, individuals or entities with ownership, directly or indirectly, of 50 percent or more by the designated persons are also subject to these sanctions.
These measures prohibit transactions involving any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons unless authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or exempt. This includes contributions and provision of funds, goods, or services to or from any blocked person.
Furthermore, the entry of designated individuals into the United States has been suspended under Presidential Proclamation 8693.
The US government highlighted that the effectiveness of these sanctions depends not only on the ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN) but also on the willingness to remove persons from the list in accordance with the law.
Following the imposition of sanctions, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch issued a statement expressing Pakistan’s rejection of the political exploitation of export controls. She criticized the discriminatory approaches and double standards employed by certain jurisdictions, which undermine non-proliferation regimes and global peace and security.
Baloch emphasized the need to avoid arbitrary application of export controls and advocated for discussions between concerned parties to establish an objective mechanism to prevent erroneous sanctions on technology essential for socio-economic development.
She concluded by stating that Pakistan was prepared to engage in discussions on end-use and end-user verification mechanisms to ensure that legitimate commercial users are not adversely affected by discriminatory application of export controls.
Shuja Nawaz, a fellow at the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council in Washington, characterized the US sanctions as a reminder of its carrot-and-stick policy towards Pakistan. He noted that while the US has assisted Pakistan in economic recovery efforts, the sanctions serve as a public punishment for Pakistan’s missile development pursuits. Additionally, Nawaz suggested that Pakistani authorities should investigate who provided information to American authorities.
