Former FM Says Gabbard’s Missile Claim Not Realistic

Former caretaker foreign minister Jalil Abbas Jilani dismissed a statement 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, Jilani maintained that the assertion that “US Homeland is within range of Pakistan’s nuclear/con missiles” was not grounded in strategic reality.

Jabard said Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine was “India-specific, aimed at maintaining credible deterrence in South Asia, not projecting power globally.” Gabbard had presented the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment before the United States Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. She stated that 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. The intelligence community foresees a sharp rise in missile threats over the next decade, analysts say. 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.

In December 2024, Pakistan was included among the principal nuclear threats as part of US policy trends. The same month, the US imposed 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.