Gabbard’s missile claim ‘not grounded in strategic reality’, says former foreign minister

Former caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani on Thursday dismissed a statement made by US Dire­ctor of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard over Pakistan’s missile capabilities posing a threat to the United States.

In a post on X, the former foreign minister maintained that the assertion that the “US Homeland is within range of Pakistan’s nuclear/con missiles is not grounded in strategic reality”.

He said that Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine was “India-specific, aimed at maintaining credible deterrence in South Asia, not projecting power globally”.

On Wednesday, Gabbard, presenting the 2026 Ann­ual Threat Assessment before the United States Senate Intelligence Comm­ittee said, “Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan have been researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our Homeland within range.”

“Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile development potentially could include ICBMs with the range capable of striking the Homeland,” she said.

Gabbard said that the nations identified in the threat assessment report “will likely seek to understand US plans for advanced missile defence… for the purpose of shaping their own missile development programmes and assessing US intentions regarding deterrence.”

She said the intelligence community foresees a sharp rise in missile threats over the next decade. “…threats to the Homeland will expand collectively to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035, from the current assessed figure of more than 3,000 missiles.”

Analysts have Pakistan’s inclusion among the principal nuclear threats as a continuation of previous US policy trends.

In December 2024, a similar claim was made by a senior White House official accused Pakistan of developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that could eventually allow it to strike targets outside of South Asia, including in the US.

The same month, the US said it was imposing additional sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, targeting four entities that it alleged were contributing to the proliferation or delivery of such weapons.