Can Pakistan’s missiles hit the US? India reacts to Tulsi Gabbard’s threat assessment

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has issued a stern reminder to the global community regarding Pakistan's history of "clandestine nuclear proliferation."

On Thursday, New Delhi backed a high-level security alert from the United States, suggesting that Islamabad’s advancing missile program now poses a direct threat far beyond the borders of South Asia.

During a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal highlighted that Pakistan’s nuclear conduct has historically been shrouded in secrecy and unauthorised expansion. Responding to recent testimony from the US, Jaiswal stated, "Pakistan’s clandestine history of nuclear proliferation is evident to all, and everyone understands the risks it poses to the international community. There is nothing new in this; it has simply been highlighted once again."

The MEA’s comments come at a time of heightened regional tension, reinforcing India's long-standing position that Pakistan’s nuclear assets remain a point of extreme strategic concern for global security planners.

What did US Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard reveal about Pakistan’s ICBMs?

Presenting the intelligence community’s 2026 Annual Threat Assessment, Gabbard said China and Russia are developing advanced delivery systems capable of bypassing US missile defences, while North Korea already has intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach American soil and continues to expand its nuclear arsenal.

She added that Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile development could evolve into intercontinental systems capable of striking the US, placing it in a category of emerging strategic concern for American security planners.

“The IC assesses that China and Russia are developing advanced delivery systems meant to be capable of penetrating or bypassing US missile defences. North Korea’s ICBMs can already reach US soil, and it is committed to expanding its nuclear arsenal,” she said.

“Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile development potentially could include ICBMs with the range capable of striking the Homeland,” Gabbard told members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Her 34-page assessment of the World Threat gave a similar assessment.

“Pakistan continues to develop increasingly sophisticated missile technology that provides its military the means to develop missile systems with the capability to strike targets beyond South Asia, and if these trends continue, ICBMs that would threaten the US,” the report said.

Gabbard told lawmakers that the US secure nuclear deterrent continues to ensure safety in the Homeland against strategic threats. However, 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.

“The IC assesses that threats to the Homeland will expand collectively to more than 16,000 missiles by 2035, from the current assessed figure of more than 3,000 missiles,” she said.