Washington:

The U.S. State Department announced that it has imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies and one Belarusian company for secretly supplying missile-compatible items to Pakistan’s ballistic missile program, including its long-range missile program.

The three companies are China’s Xi’an Longde Technology Development Co., Ltd., Tianjin Creative Source International Trade Co., Ltd. and Grandpack Co., Ltd., and Belarus’s Minsk Wheel Tractor Factory.

These entities “engage in activities or transactions that have a significant impact on or pose a significant risk to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their delivery vehicles, including any efforts to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, or transport.” Pakistan transfers or uses such items,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Friday.

Mr. Miller said the United States is committed to strengthening the global nonproliferation regime by taking action to disrupt procurement networks that support proliferation activities of concern.

China is Pakistan’s all-weather ally and has been a major supplier of weapons and defense equipment for Islamabad’s ambitious military modernization program.

The Belarusian Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant supplies special vehicle chassis for Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program.

According to a U.S. State Department briefing, such chassis are used as launch support equipment for ballistic missiles by Pakistan’s National Development Complex (NDC), which is responsible for the development of Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) Category I ballistic missiles.

China’s Xi’an Longde Technology Development Co. has supplied missile-related equipment, including filament winding machines, to Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program, which the United States says is destined for Pakistan’s National Data Center.

Fiber winding machines can be used to produce rocket engine casings.

Tianjin Creative Source International Trading Co., Ltd. provides missile-related equipment for Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile program, including stir welding equipment (the United States evaluates it can be used to manufacture space launch vehicle propellant tanks) and linear accelerator systems (the United States evaluates it can be used for the inspection of solid rocket motors) .

The U.S. State Department said Tianjin Creative’s purchase may be targeting Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Council (SUPARCO), which is responsible for developing and producing Pakistan’s MTCR Class I ballistic missiles.

Granpect cooperates with Pakistan’s SUPARCO to provide equipment for testing large-diameter rocket engines.

In addition, Grampec is also committed to providing large-diameter rocket engine testing equipment to Pakistan’s NDC.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)