WASHINGTON – United States slapped sanctions on two Pakistani companies byplacing them on the export entities list for activities related to nuclearand missile trade.

The two companies – Technology Links Pvt Ltd and Techcare Services FZ havebeen placed under the Entity List by the Export Administration Regulations(EAR).

In a federal notification, the US Department of Commerce said that theentities added to the EAR list have been determined by the US government tobe acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests ofthe US.

The move comes days ahead of the visit of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo toPakistan.

The EAR determined that Technology Links Pvt. Ltd., located in Pakistan, beadded to the Entity List based on the company’s involvement in the supplyof items subject to the EAR to nuclear and missile-related Entity Listparties in Pakistan without the required license, the federal notificationsaid.

In addition, the EAR determined that Techcare Services FZ LLC, located inthe UAE, and UEC (Pvt) Ltd, located in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE,made multiple attempts to acquire US-origin commodities ultimately destinedfor Pakistan’s unsafeguarded nuclear programme and have provided false andmisleading information during an end-use check, the federal notificationsaid.