US blacklists Pakistani companies supporting Islamabad's 'unsafeguarded' nuclear activities

The US blacklisted half a dozen Pakistani companies for supporting Islamabad's "unsafeguarded nuclear activities" three of which were have been contributing to the nuclear activity and missile proliferation related activities that are "contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States".

New Delhi: The United States has blacklisted half a dozen Pakistani companies for supporting Islamabad's "unsafeguarded nuclear activities". The companies have been put on the American export control list by the Bureau of industry and security (BIS) which comes under the US department of commerce which restricts access for these companies to commodities, software and technologies.

The US statement said many of these companies have been added to the list as they have been "found to supply or attempt to supply items...to Pakistan's unsafeguarded nuclear activities and ballistic missile program".

The Pakistani companies that have been listed are Dynamic Engineering Corporation, EnerQuip Private Ltd, Rainbow Solutions, Universal Drilling Engineers, NAR Technologies General Trading LLC and Trojans. The last 2 companies have bases in UAE as well. Most of these companies are based in Pakistani National capital Islamabad, with some having addresses in Karachi and Lahore as well.

The statement explained that 3 of the Pakistan based companies have been contributing to the nuclear activity and missile proliferation related activities that are "contrary to the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States". 2 UAE based companies, EnerQuip Limited and Zain Enterprises FZE have also been backlisted for supporting Islamabad's nuclear activities.

The development comes even as US and India have several times publicly expressed concerns over Pakistan's nuclear activities. Earlier this year, US President Biden termed Pakistan as "maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world" as it has "nuclear weapons without any cohesion". 

India has also recently expressed concerns after a Russian senator, Igor Morozov alleged that Ukraine had sought Pakistani help for developing nuclear weapons. Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in November said that "we have expressed our concerns about proliferation of nuclear technology from Pakistan in the past", explaining, "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." 

In the past, India has pointed out to Pakistan's nuclear nexus with North Korea as well, with support being given by Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan.