'Pakistan regards India as an existential threat': US intelligence report

NEW DELHI: The US defence department has said that Pakistan sees India as an "existential threat," while India regards Pakistan as one of an "ancillary security problem."In an annual assessment report on worldwide threat, US defence intelligence agency said that Pakistan army will continue to pursue its military modernisation effort, "including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons."Pakistan regards India as an existential threat and will continue to pursue its military modernisation effort, including the development of battlefield nuclear weapons, to offset India’s conventional military advantage," the report said."Pakistan is modernising its nuclear arsenal and maintaining the security of its nuclear materials and nuclear command and control. Pakistan almost certainly procures WMD applicable goods from foreign suppliers and intermediaries," it added.Meanwhile, the report also said that Pakistan's top priorities will likely remain cross-border skirmishes with regional neighbors."During the next year, the Pakistani military’s top priorities are likely to remain cross-border skirmishes with regional neighbors, rising attacks by Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan and Baloch nationalist militants, counterterrorism efforts, and nuclear modernization," the report said."Despite Pakistan’s daily operations during the past year, militants killed more than 2,500 people in Pakistan in 2024," it addedUS also said that Pakistan is the "primary recipient" of China’s economic and military generosity and foreign materials and technology supporting Pakistan's armed forces are very likely acquired primarily from suppliers in China"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," the report said."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. 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," it added.The defence intelligence agency (DIA), which operates under the US Department of Defense, focuses on military intelligence.This comes after 26 tourists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in a terrorist attack. Following which Indian armed forces launched missile strikes targeting terrorism-linked infrastructure inside Pakistan, with both sides engaging in multiple rounds of missile launches, drone operations, loitering munition attacks, and intense artillery shelling from May 7 to May 10.