New Delhi (Sputnik) — The US has added seven Pakistani companies to a list of foreign entities that "presumably pose a significant risk to the national security and policy interests of the United States" by allegedly engaging in nuclear trade.
The End-User Review Committee, of Bureau of Industry and Security, US Department of Commerce has found Pakistani firms — Akhtar & Munir, Proficient Engineers and Pervaiz Commercial Trading Co. (PCTC) — involved in the proliferation of un-safeguarded nuclear activities that are contrary to the national security and/or foreign policy interests of the United States.
Two other companies have been accused of procuring supplies for nuclear-related entities already on the list and the remaining two are accused of acting as fronts for listed entities.
The list also includes several addresses of each of the seven Pakistani companies in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
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The sanction is likely to jeopardize Pakistan's ambition of joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an elite club of countries that can trade fissile materials and nuclear technologies.
Pakistan applied for the NSG membership last May after India had found active support from the US and other Western countries to join the group. Pakistan has argued that NSG should adopt a non-discriminatory, criteria-based approach for inducting new members.