ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday slammed Washington’s “double standards” for sanctioning Chinese firms allegedly linked to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program.

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch rejected the sanctions and called them “biased and politically motivated”. She said in the past, companies were sanctioned “based on mere suspicion”.

“It is widely known that some countries while claiming strict adherence to non-proliferation norms, have conveniently waived licensing requirements for advanced military technologies to their favoured states,” she said, without naming any nation.

“Such double standards and discriminatory practices undermine the credibility of global non-proliferation regimes, increase military asymmetries, and endanger international peace and security.”

Earlier this week, the US State Department imposed sanctions on a Chinese research institute and several companies for allegedly supplying equipment for Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme.

The sanctions targeted a Chinese research institute and several companies, including Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry, Hubei Huach­angda Intelligent Equ­ipment Co, Uni­­v­ersal Enterprise, and Xi’an Longde Technology Development Co.

Washington alleged that the Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry had worked with Pakistan to procure equipment for testing rocket motors for the Shaheen-3 and Ababeel systems and potentially for larger systems.

Washington similarly targeted three China-based firms with sanctions in October 2023 for supplying missile-applicable items to Pakistan.

The sanctions also affected Pakista­n-based Innovative Equipment and a Chinese national.

Pakistan-China consultations

In a separate statement on Saturday, the FO said Pakistan and China held the 9th Round of Bilateral Consultations on Arms Control and Non-proliferation in Islamabad on Friday.

Ambassador Tahir Andrabi, the director general of Arms Control and Disarmament at the Foreign Office and Sun Xiaobo, the director general of Arms Control at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the delegation-level talks.

The discussions covered arms control, non-proliferation, global and regional security, emerging technologies like cyber security and artificial intelligence, outer space, and joint nuclear technology cooperation.

The meeting also reviewed agendas of multilateral forums, including the UN General Assembly, IAEA, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and other disarmament treaties.In a meeting with Foreign Secretary Amna Baloch, Mr Xiaobo underlined the importance of regular exchanges and consultations on arms control and non-proliferation, the statement added.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2024