Washington, Dec 20 (PTI) It has been long-standing American policy to deny support to Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile programme, a US official said on Thursday, a day after the Joe Biden administration slapped sanctions on Pakistan's state-owned flagship aerospace and defence agency, National Development Complex (NDC).

"These designations are based on our concerns regarding Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile programme, but they do not affect other areas of US-Pakistan cooperation, which we have a great deal of," Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department, told reporters at his daily news conference.

Also Read | Elon Musk May Fund Nigel Farage's Reform UK Party, a Move That Could Shake Up Britain's Politics.

The US slapped sanctions on Wednesday on four Pakistani entities, including the NDC, on charges of them contributing to Pakistan's ballistic missile programme. The three other entities being Akhtar and Sons Private Limited, Affiliates International and Rockside Enterprise. All three are based in Karachi, while the NDC is in Islamabad.

"The US is committed to maintaining the global nonproliferation regime and Pakistan is an important partner in that. However, we have been clear and consistent about our concerns with Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile programme. It is longstanding US policy to deny support to Pakistan's long-range ballistic missile programme," Patel said in response to a question.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Speaks With King Charles III; Exchange Greetings on Upcoming Festive Occasions of Christmas and New Year, Reaffirms Commitment To Bolster India-UK Ties.

"The Department of State will continue to use sanctions and other tools to protect our national security and ensure that US exporters and US financial systems cannot be abused by proliferators. And it is our hope to continue to engage constructively with the Pakistani government on these issues," he said in response to a question.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)