A senior White House official has described Pakistan as an "emerging threat" to the United States due to its development of long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching targets beyond South Asia.

At a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event on Thursday, US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said that Pakistan is advancing its missile technology in increasingly "sophisticated" ways.

If those trends continue, Finer said, "Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States."

"Candidly, it's hard for us to see Pakistan's actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States," he added. 

Pakistan calls sanctions 'biased'

Two senior administration officials told Reuters news agency that the US concerns with Pakistan's missile program have stemmed from the sizes of the rocket engines being built.

Finer's remarks come a day after the US announced a new round of sanctions related to Pakistan's ballistic missile development
program, including on the state-run defense agency that oversees the program.

The US said this was "in light of the continuing proliferation threat of Pakistan's long-range missile development."

Pakistan called the sanctions "biased" and warned of their impact on regional stability, accusing the US of double standards in arms policies.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry criticized the US for exempting other countries from licensing requirements for advanced military technology. 

"Such double standards and discriminatory practices not only undermine the credibility of non-proliferation regimes but also endanger regional and international peace and security," it said.

ss/lo (AP, AFP, Reuters)