Pakistan on Thursday denounced new US sanctions on the country’s ballistic missile program as “discriminatory” that put the region’s peace and security at risk.

A senior White House official on Thursday said nuclear-armed Pakistan is developing long-range ballistic missile capabilities that eventually could allow it to strike targets well beyond South Asia, making it an "emerging threat" to the United States.

The United States has imposed sanctions targeting four Pakistani firms accused of being involved in Islamabad's ballistic missile program as the Biden administration targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry warned in a statement that the sanctions “have dangerous implications for strategic stability of our region and beyond.”

The United States has taken a major step by imposing new sanctions on Pakistan, targeting the country’s long-range missile program. This includes sanctions on Pakistan’s National Development Complex (NDC) and three companies based in Karachi.