US sanctions will have ‘zero impact’ on Pakistan: ex-envoy

• Lodhi says sanctions on India remain absent.
• US priorities exclude Pakistan, focuses on China.
• Pak-US relations strained post-Afghanistan withdrawal.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Maleeha Lodhi, has dismissed the impact of US sanctions on Pakistan, saying they will have “zero effect.”

Speaking on Geo News’ programme ‘Geo Pakistan’, Lodhi highlighted that US sanctions are not a new development for Pakistan.

“Ever since Pakistan pursued its nuclear programme, the US has imposed sanctions, yet they have had no real impact,” Lodhi, who also served as the envoy to the United States, said.

Lodhi criticised what she described as the US’s discriminatory approach, pointing out that no such sanctions have been imposed on India, whose missile programme is far more advanced.

“This is a clear double standard by the US,” she said, reiterating that the sanctions will not affect Pakistan.

She further noted that Pakistan is no longer a priority in US foreign policy, especially since the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. “The Trump administration’s focus was on China, and US-Pakistan relations have been at a crossroads ever since,” Lodhi observed.

Commenting on the domestic discourse surrounding Pakistan’s nuclear programme, Lodhi emphasised that no Pakistani would support the US’s discriminatory behaviour.

“There should be no political point-scoring on our nuclear programme,” she asserted, underlining the importance of national unity on such issues.

A senior White House official on Thursday said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets outside of South Asia, including the United States.

Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said Islamabad’s conduct raised “real questions” about its intentions.

The statement came only a day after the US State Department said it was imposing additional sanctions related to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, targeting four entities that it said were contributing to the proliferation or delivery of such weapons.

The statement, issued on the State Department’s website, said that the decision was taken “in light of the continuing proliferation threat of Pakistan’s long-range missile development”.

In a more recent statement, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department Vedant Patel said that it was a long-standing policy of the US to deny support to Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile programme.