Islamabad, March 18
The US today announced it would designate Pakistan as a “major non-NATO ally”, a move that would strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries and lift restrictions on weapon sales to Islamabad.Visiting Secretary of State Colin Powell, after meeting Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri here, said US President George W. Bush would soon designate Pakistan as a “major non-NATO ally”.
“I advised the (Pakistan) Foreign Minister this morning that we will also be making a notification to our Congress that will designate Pakistan as a ‘major non-NATO ally’ for the purposes of our future military-to-military relations,” Mr Powell, who is here on the final leg of his three-nation South-Asian tour that took him to India and Afghanistan earlier, said at a joint press conference with Mr Kasuri.
The announcement came despite global concerns about the nuclear proliferation row involving top Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.
The designation means that Pakistan will join an exclusive club of nations, including Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines, which are given preferential treatment by the US in foreign aid and defence cooperation.
Meanwhile, shortly after declaring Pakistan a “major non-NATO ally,” the United States today said it wanted to have a similar relationship with India too, a report from Washington said. Welcoming the Pakistani military activities in tribal areas,
Mr Powell said, “We are committed to a long-term relationship with Pakistan.”
About the nuclear proliferation issue, Mr Powell said, “Questions have arisen as to not only what Dr Khan and his associates might have been doing, but was there any other knowledge within the government at the time it was happening.”
Dr Khan, the architect of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, admitted to transferring nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea and was pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf.
Mr Kasuri asserted that Dr Khan operated with total “autonomy” and vowed that Pakistan would address the concerns regarding the issue.
Meanwhile, Mr Powell said the US would be helpful, but not play a central role in resolving the Kashmir issue, which “essentially” was a matter that had to be settled between India and Pakistan.
Mr Powell, who held wide-ranging talks with General Musharraf and Mr Kasuri, also observed that “incidents” along the Line of Control had come down significantly and the situation must continue after snow melts on the hills of Kashmir.
