Pakistan has said that it rejected the alleged political use of export controls after the United States decided to impose sanctions against commercial entities on allegations of links with the country’s ballistic missile programme.

“It is well known that the same jurisdictions, which claim strict adherence to non-proliferation controls, have waived off licensing requirements for advanced military technologies for some countries,” Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said in response to media queries after the US administration’s decision.

“Such discriminatory approaches and double standards are undermining the credibility of non proliferation regimes and also the objectives of regional and global peace and security by accentuating military asymmetries.”

Earlier in the day, the US State Department four entities for their alleged involvement in supplying materials and equipment to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, including its long-range missile capabilities.

The sanctioned entities include: Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant (Belarus), Xi’an Longde Technology Development Company Limited (China), Tianjin Creative Source International Trade Co Ltd (China), and Granpect Company Limited (China).

The FO spokesperson said that such listings of commercial entities have taken place in the past as well on allegations of links to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme without sharing any evidence whatsoever.

She added that the country was not aware of the specifics of the latest measures by the US, but highlighted that in the past Islamabad has come across many instances where listings have been made on mere suspicion or even when the involved items were not on any control lists but were deemed sensitive under catch-all provisions.

“We have pointed out many times need to avoid arbitrary application of export controls and for discussions between concerned parties for an objective mechanism to avoid erroneous sanctions on technology needed purely for socio-economic development pursuits,” she said.

The statement added that Pakistan was ready to discuss end-use and end-user verification mechanisms so that legitimate commercial users were not hurt by discriminatory application of export controls.