- US flags Pakistan’s missile program in threat assessment.
- Global missile threats expected to increase by 2035: US.
- Ex-envoy rejects claim, says doctrine remains India-focused.
WASHINGTON: US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has identified Pakistan among countries of growing strategic concern, warning that Islamabad’s developing long-range missile capabilities could potentially put the US homeland within range.
Presenting the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Gabbard also named Iran, China, Russia and North Korea as nations actively developing new missile delivery systems, including both nuclear and conventional warheads, that put the United States within range.
“The U.S. secure nuclear deterrent continues to ensure the security of the homeland against strategic threats. But Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan have researched and developed a number of new, advanced or conventional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads that put our homeland within range,” Gabbard said.
She noted that Pakistan’s ballistic missile development “could potentially include intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)” capable of reaching the US homeland.
Gabbard also warned that the number of missile threats facing the United States is expected to rise sharply, with the intelligence community expecting global missile stockpiles to exceed 16,000 by 2035, up from more than 3,000 currently.
She added that the countries identified in the report will likely seek to understand US missile defense plans to shape their own development programs and assess Washington’s deterrence stance.
Reacting to the remarks, former Pakistani ambassador to the US, Jalil Abbas Jilani, rejected the claim that Pakistan posed a direct missile threat to the US homeland.
In a statement, Jilani said Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine was India-centric and aimed at deterrence, not global power projection, adding that Islamabad’s strategic posture was focused on regional security dynamics.
Meanwhile, Turkish analyst Shaqeq-ud-Din questioned the assessment, claiming Pakistan did not possess intercontinental ballistic missiles, while raising concerns about India’s growing ICBM capability, which he said was being expanded with external support.
He called the classification of threats selective and questioned whether a similar control was applied uniformly in all countries.
Threat Assessment in South Asia
The threat assessment report noted that South Asia remained a source of “enduring security challenges”, particularly relations between Pakistan and India, for the United States.
“Pakistan-India relations remain a risk of nuclear conflict given past conflicts where these two nuclear states ended, creating the danger of escalation,” it said. It also mentioned the Pahalgam attack that triggered a war between the two neighbours.
“President Trump’s intervention de-escalated recent nuclear tensions, and we assess that neither country seeks to return to open conflict, but that conditions exist for terrorist actors to continue to create catalysts for crises,” it said.
The report also highlighted tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, stating: “Pakistan-Taliban relations have been tense with periodic cross-border clashes as Islamabad has grown increasingly frustrated with the presence of anti-Pakistani terrorist groups in Afghanistan, while Islamabad faces growing terrorist violence.”
“Pakistan’s army chief warned this month that lasting peace requires the Taliban to sever ties with militants targeting Pakistan. The Taliban’s public position has been to call for dialogue, but it has refused to harbor anti-Pakistan militants,” it said, while referring to the ongoing war between the two states.
