U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday listed Pakistan among states that pose a significant threat to the United States, alleging that Islamabad’s evolving missile capabilities could potentially come within range of U.S. soil.
Presenting the 2026 Annual Threat Assessment to the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, she listed Russia, China, North Korea, Iran and Pakistan as “researching and developing an array of novel, advanced, or traditional missile delivery systems with nuclear and conventional payloads, that put our homeland within range.”
Additionally, she claimed Pakistan’s long-range ballistic missile development “potentially could include ICBMs with the range capable of striking the homeland.”
According to Gabbard, the countries she listed “will likely seek to understand U.S. plans for advanced missile defense … for the purpose of shaping their own missile development programs and assessing U.S. intentions regarding deterrence.” She said the intelligence community anticipates a sharp rise in missile threats over the next decade, going from the current assessed figure of more than 3,000 missiles to over 16,000 missiles by 2035.
During her testimony, the U.S. official also warned that, beyond state actors, militant groups operating in South Asia remained a persistent threat to U.S. interests abroad. “They will continue to exploit political instability and ungoverned territory as they seek to rebuild their capabilities and leadership,” she said.
The Threat Assessment cites South Asia as a source of “enduring security challenges” for the United States, particularly due to tensions between Pakistan and India. “India–Pakistan relations remain a risk for nuclear conflict given past conflicts where these two nuclear states squared off, creating the danger of escalation,” read the report, recalling that the Pahalgam attack had triggered a war between the neighboring nations.
“President Trump’s intervention deescalated the most recent nuclear tensions, and we assess that neither country seeks to return to open conflict, but that conditions exist for terrorist actors to continue to create catalysts for crises,” it said, while also noting tensions along the Pak-Afghan border.
“Pakistan’s Army chief warned this month that lasting peace requires the Taliban to sever ties with militants targeting Pakistan. The Taliban’s public posture has been to call for dialogue, but it has denied harboring anti-Pakistani militants,” it added.