A recent threat assessment by Norwegian security agencies has drawn attention to Pakistan’s exploitation of dual-use technology, exposing the country as one of the greatest threats to international security. Norway thus joins a growing list of states that have raised alarm over Pakistan’s persistent practice of bypassing international safeguards to acquire sensitive nuclear technology, ostensibly for education and health, but in reality to advance its covert nuclear weapons programme.
Norway’s concerns echo those expressed elsewhere. The Czech Republic’s Annual Report of the Security Information Service for 2019 warned of Pakistan’s deceptive procurement practices involving controlled items and technologies to aid its nuclear ambitions. Similarly, the United States in 2019 indicted five individuals linked to a Pakistan-based front company that operated a clandestine network to export US-origin goods. Between 2014 and 2019, at least 38 consignments were funnelled to Pakistan’s Advanced Engineering Research Organization (AERO) and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), both listed by the US Commerce Department for activities deemed contrary to US national security and foreign policy interests.
German authorities also disclosed in 2020 that Pakistan sought nuclear-related technology to maintain a deterrent against its “arch-enemy” India, detailing attempts to steal both material and information.
To mask these activities, Islamabad has habitually claimed that dual-use technologies are sought for socio-economic development, particularly in health and education. Yet such justifications no longer carry credibility in Western capitals, where Pakistan’s track record of nuclear deception, terrorism sponsorship, and technology theft is well known. Officials in Islamabad have complained that reports like Norway’s risk barring Pakistani students and researchers from gaining admission to international universities. But Norwegian authorities stand by their independent assessments, based on confidential inputs, and remain unconvinced by Pakistan’s grievances.
The reality is that Pakistan’s reputation as a serial offender precedes it. From front companies and falsified paperwork to leveraging humanitarian arguments, the country has repeatedly abused global goodwill to serve its military ambitions. Given its fragile civil institutions, history of poor governance, and longstanding links to terrorism, Western suspicions are firmly rooted in experience.
The key question now is whether these disclosures will lead to tougher sanctions or enhanced export controls on Pakistan, or whether Islamabad will once again succeed in misleading the world by playing the perennial victim card.