Ishaq Dar, the finance minister, on Thursday, rejected the call from a Western country to give up long-range nuclear missiles.
The senior PML-N official made these comments in front of many foreign diplomats during a special Senate session.
In the midst of Pakistan’s renewed efforts to improve relations with China, the finance minister made some peculiar remarks.
“Nobody has any right to tell Pakistan what range of missiles and nuclear weapons it can have. We have to have our own deterrence,” said Dar.
In private conversations, some Pakistani authorities had said that there was a longstanding demand by a Western country to abandon the long-range missiles programme.
Pakistan’s Shaheen-III long-range nuclear missile can carry nuclear warheads 2,750 kilometres away, covering all of India and parts of the Middle East.
Afterward, the Prime Minister’s Office also released a statement to clear up any confusion on the nuclear program’s safety.
“Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programme is a national asset, which is jealously guarded by the State,” said the PM’s Office. The nuclear and missile programme continues to fully serve the purpose for which this capability was developed, said the PM’s Office.
Out of #Chinese ICBC’s approved rollover facility of US$1.3 billion (which was earlier repaid by Pakistan to ICBC in recent months), documentation for second disbursement of US$500 million has been completed by Finance Ministry for release of funds to the State Bank of Pakistan!
— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) March 16, 2023
Dar also spoke about the delay in reaching a staff-level deal with the IMF, saying the delay was “not on the part of the government”.
“It looks like each time the review is a new programme, which is very uncustomary with the IMF,” said Dar.
Also Read: IMF doesn’t trust Ishaq Dar, claims Miftah Ismail
The still-unfinished talks for the ninth review began on January 31 and were supposed to end on February 9 but have yet to be completed.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Thursday that the documentation for a $500 million commercial loan from China had been completed.
Taking to Twitter, Ishaq Dar said, “Out of Chinese ICBC’s approved rollover facility of $1.3 billion (which was earlier repaid by Pakistan in recent months), documentation for second disbursement of $500 million has been completed by the Finance Ministry for release of funds to the State Bank of Pakistan.”
