- US flags Pakistan’s missile program as part of threat assessment.
- Global missile threats expected to increase by 2035: US.
- The former envoy rejects this claim and says the doctrine remains India-centric.
WASHINGTON: US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has identified Pakistan among countries of growing strategic concern, warning that Islamabad’s evolving long-range missile capabilities could potentially bring the US homeland within range.
Presenting the 2026 annual threat assessment before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gabbard also cited Iran, China, Russia and North Korea as countries actively developing new missile launch systems, including both nuclear and conventional warheads, that put the United States within range.
“The United States’ secure nuclear deterrent continues to ensure the nation’s security against strategic threats. However, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and Pakistan have researched and developed a range of new, advanced and traditional missile launch systems, with nuclear and conventional payloads, that bring our nation within range,” Gabbard said.
She noted that Pakistan’s ballistic missile development “could potentially include intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)” capable of reaching US territory.
Gabbard also warned that the number of ballistic threats facing the United States is expected to rise sharply, with the intelligence community predicting that global missile stockpiles could exceed 16,000 by 2035, up from more than 3,000 currently.
She added that countries identified in the report would likely seek to understand U.S. missile defense plans in order to shape their own development programs and assess Washington’s deterrence posture.
Reacting to the remarks, former Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Jalil Abbas Jilani rejected the claim that Pakistan posed a direct missile threat to the American homeland.
In a statement, Jilani said Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine was India-centric and aimed at deterrence and not global power projection, adding that Islamabad’s strategic posture was focused on regional security dynamics.
Meanwhile, Turkish analyst Shaqeq-ud-Din questioned this assessment, arguing that Pakistan did not possess intercontinental ballistic missiles, while raising concerns about India’s growing ICBM capabilities, which he said were growing with external support.
He called the threat classification selective, questioning whether similar scrutiny was applied uniformly to all countries.
South Asia Threat Assessment
The threat assessment report notes that South Asia remains a source of “persistent security challenges” for the United States, particularly in the Pakistan-India relationship.
“Pakistan-India relations remain a risk of nuclear conflict given past conflicts where these two nuclear states have clashed, creating a risk of escalation,” he said. He also talks about the attack on Pahalgam which triggered a war between the two neighbors.
“President Trump’s intervention has eased the most recent nuclear tensions, and we believe that neither country seeks to return to open conflict, but that conditions exist for terrorist actors to continue creating catalysts for crises,” the statement said.
The report also highlights tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, saying: “Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban have been tense, with intermittent cross-border clashes, as Islamabad has become increasingly frustrated by the presence of anti-Pakistan terrorist groups in Afghanistan while Islamabad faces increasing terrorist violence. »
“Pakistan’s army chief warned this month that lasting peace required the Taliban to cut ties with militants targeting Pakistan. The Taliban’s public stance has been to call for dialogue, but they have denied harboring anti-Pakistan militants,” he said, referring to the ongoing war between the two states.
