Islamabad's evolving program could put American cities within range, the intel chief has said

Pakistan's evolving missile program poses a potential threat to the US, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has said.

She named the South Asian country along with Russia and others in the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment Report.

"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," Gabbard told the US Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. "Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile development potentially could include ICBMs with the range capable of striking the homeland."

Gabbard told the committee that she expects threats to the US to expand collectively from more than 3,000 missiles to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035.

Washington-based scholar Shuja Nawaz told Dawn News that this "continues the analysis of the Biden administration that placed sanctions on Pakistani entities and tried to curb acquisition of new technologies."

Washington-Islamabad ties have been marked by ups and downs over the past few decades. Pakistan was a US ally in the Cold War era and joined several Washington-led initiatives, including the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) and Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).

The US declared Pakistan a major non-NATO ally in 2004, although it later accused Islamabad of supporting the Afghanistan Taliban and undermining US interests in the war-torn country until 2021.    

Earlier this year, Islamabad joined US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, which aims to oversee a postwar reconstruction of Gaza.

The South Asian country enjoys a warm relationship with China and has joined President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road initiative. It is also a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).