Pakistan denies transfer of missile technology from China
( 2001-09-03 11:43 ) (9 )

Pakistan on Sunday rejected accusations that it acquired missile techonolgy from China in violation to the guidelines of the Missile Techonolgy Control Regime (MTCR).

A foreign ministry official said he regretted US sanctions imposed against one of its firms for allegedly receiving missile technology from a Chinese company.

"We have not received anything from China which may contravene Chinese obligations under MTCR," a foreign ministry official told reporters.

The official, who did not want to be identified by name, said the US had raised the issue earlier which had been denied by China also.

The United States on Saturday imposed sanctions on Pakistan's National Development Complex (NDC) as well as the China Metallurgical Equipment Corp (CMEC) for alleged transfers of technology barred under the MTCR.

A local daily Jang quoted NDC chairman Samar Mubarakmand as saying that Pakistan's missile programme was "purely indigenous."

Terming the sanctions on NDC as "illogical and unnecessary" he ruled out any negative impact of curbs on the country's missile capability.

"The sanctions are not new for us. We have been facing such sanctions for years," he said.

The Missile Technology Control Regime, an informal international pact, was agreed on in 1987 to cut down on the spread of nuclear capable missiles and components.