US blacklists Pakistani companies for supporting Islamabad’s ‘un-safeguarded’ nuclear activities
This occurs despite the United States and India’s repeated public expressions of worry about Pakistan’s nuclear activities. The U.S. vice president has previously described Pakistan as “maybe one of the most dangerous states in the world” due to its “nuclear weapons without any cohesiveness.”
Six Pakistani companies have been placed on the U.S. sanctions list for aiding Islamabad in its “un-safeguarded nuclear activities.” The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has placed the corporations on an export control list, limiting their access to American-made goods, services, and technologies.
After being “discovered to supply or attempt to supply items…to Pakistan’s un-safeguarded nuclear operations and ballistic missile program,” the U.S. government stated in a statement that several of these businesses were put on the list. Dynamic Engineering Corporation, EnerQuip Private Ltd, Rainbow Solutions, Universal Drilling Engineers, NAR Technologies General Trading LLC, and Trojans are just a few Pakistani businesses that have made a list. Two other companies also call the United Arab Emirates home for their operations. Many of these businesses have offices in Karachi and Lahore, in addition to the national capital of Islamabad.
The announcement detailed how three Pakistani businesses had been involved in “contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States” nuclear activity and missile proliferation. EnerQuip Limited and Zain Enterprises FZE, both based in the United Arab Emirates, have been blacklisted for their involvement in Islamabad’s nuclear program.
This occurs despite the United States and India’s repeated public expressions of worry about Pakistan’s nuclear activities. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called Pakistan “maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world” due to its “nuclear weapons without any cohesiveness” earlier this year.
India has lately voiced its concerns after Russian senator Igor Morozov made allegations that Ukraine had asked Pakistan for assistance in producing nuclear weapons. As the Ministry of External Affairs’ Arindam Bagchi explained in November, “if there is any kind of such Nexus or proliferation, it is a cause of worry, not just for India, but for the international community,” India and the rest of the world have reason to be concerned about the possible spread of nuclear technology from Pakistan. India has already accused Pakistan of sharing atomic secrets with North Korea, an accusation that Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan backed up.
