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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that the sanctions placed by the US on four Pakistani firms for their alleged involvement in the country's ballistic missile programme had "no justification", as per Dawn.
Dawn reported that Pakistan's Foreign Office termed the decision "biased", and rejected as "unfounded [and] devoid of rationality". Addressing a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad on Tuesday, Shehbaz Sharif said, "The sanctions placed upon our National Development Complex and other entities have no justification. "Pakistan has absolutely no intention for our nuclear system to be aggressive. It is 100 per cent for Pakistan's defence. It's just deterrence; nothing else," Dawn quoted him as saying. Pakistan's Prime Minister said that the country's ballistic missile was for defending itself "if God forbid there is aggression against Pakistan". Sharif said that Foreign Office gave a "comprehensive response" and the missile programme was not his or any of the cabinet member's but belonged to the entire nation. "It's dearer to them (the public) than their own hearts and there will be no compromise," Dawn quoted Sharif as saying, adding that the country was united on the matter. Responding to the sanctions, the Foreign Office had said they were "biased" and "endanger regional and international peace". Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on December 20, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said that Pakistan's missile systems could potentially harm the US. "Recently, 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. If these trend lines continue, Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States, raising real questions about Pakistan's intentions," he said. Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch had termed them as "unfounded, [and] devoid of rationality and sense of history". In a statement, Baloch had clarified that Pakistan's nuclear capabilities were "solely meant to deter and thwart a clear and visible existential threat from our neighbourhood and should not be perceived as a threat to any other country", as per Dawn. (ANI)
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