In Oct 2023, Pakistan announced it had conducted its second test of Ababeel MIRV missile

A senior U.S. official has expressed concerns regarding Pakistan's advancements in missile technology, indicating that the country is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that could potentially allow it to strike targets beyond South Asia, including the United States. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer made these remarks during a speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, stating that Pakistan's actions raise "real questions" about its intentions and represent an "emerging threat" to the U.S.

Finer's remarks come amid a backdrop of deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Pakistan, particularly following the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. He noted that Pakistan's missile program appears to have shifted focus from countering Indian threats to potentially targeting the U.S., raising serious questions about Islamabad's intentions. The U.S. has responded by imposing new sanctions related to Pakistan's ballistic missile development program, which includes measures against the state-run defence agency overseeing these advancements.

"The list of countries that possess both nuclear weapons and the missile capability to directly reach the US homeland is very small. They tend to be adversarial towards the United States- Russia, North Korea and China so candidly it's hard for us to see Pakistan's actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States," he said.

Finer emphasised that Pakistan has made significant progress in its missile technology, including the development of sophisticated systems capable of testing larger rocket motors. He warned that if these trends continue, Pakistan could possess the capability to target locations well beyond its immediate region, including areas within the United States. This statement comes in the wake of new U.S. sanctions imposed on several Pakistani entities involved in ballistic missile development, which the U.S. government claims contribute to proliferation threats.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has condemned these sanctions, describing them as discriminatory and asserting that they threaten regional stability by exacerbating military asymmetries with India.

In response to India's ballistic missile defence initiatives, Pakistan has developed its own sophisticated missile systems, including the MIRV-capable Ababeel missile, technology which is strongly suspected has been transfer by China. This development is seen as a countermeasure to India's efforts to enhance its missile defence capabilities.