Pakistan considers India as existential threat, relies on China for military, economic support: US report

The report also said that Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control.

Pakistan considers India an existential threat and will continue to pursue efforts to modernise its military, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, the latest World Threat Assessment report released by the US Defence Intelligence Agency on Sunday said.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Asim Munir at the passing out ceremony at the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul, Abbottabad, on April 26. (Reuters)

“Pakistan regards India as an existential threat and will continue to pursue its military modernization effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset India’s conventional military advantage,” the report said.

It added that Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control.

“Pakistan is modernizing its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control. Pakistan almost certainly procures WMD (weapons of mass destruction) applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries,” the report said.

Pak recipient of 'China's economic, military largesse'

The report also adds that Pakistan is primarily a recipient of China’s economic and military largesse and that the forces of the two nations conduct multiple combined military exercises every year.

It, however, also points out that relationships between China and Pakistan have been strained due to terror attacks targeting Chinese workers.

“Pakistan primarily is a recipient of China’s economic and military largesse, and Pakistani forces conduct multiple combined military exercises every year with China’s PLA, including a new air exercise completed in November 2024. Foreign materials and technology supporting Pakistan’s WMD programs are very likely acquired primarily from suppliers in China, and sometimes are transshipped through Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates,” the report said.

“However, terrorist attacks targeting Chinese workers who support China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects has emerged as a point of friction between the countries; seven Chinese nationals were killed in Pakistan in 2024.”