Bill reintroduced in US House to terminate designation of Pakistan as Major non-NATO ally 1/4/2021

[SQ8]

Bills are introduced all the time - usually if you see it by a generally unknown congressman then its lobbied in there through a connection. It will get voted on but that all depends on the lobbying from pro-Pakistan folks.
By the time this reaches the floor, Biden may be in power.

 

[alphapak]

There are some people on this forum that still wants F16's. I just wish they had
some self respect.

 

[PAKISTANFOREVER]

There are some people on this forum that still wants F16's. I just wish they had
some self respect.

No worries, they are fast decreasing in numbers. Pakistan's future is now firmly intertwined with that of China. We no longer have any use for america or americanisms.

 

[My-Analogous]

WASHINGTON: On the first day of the 117th Congress, a lawmaker has introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives
to terminate the designation of Pakistan as a Major non-NATO Ally.

Introduced by Republican Congressman Andy Biggs, the bill removes Pakistan's designation as a major non-NATO ally, a status that allows for various benefits such as access to excess US defense supplies and participation in cooperative defense research
and development projects.

It also seeks a presidential certification that Pakistan has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani Network from using any Pakistani territory as a safe haven and that the Pak government actively coordinates with Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants, such as the Haqqani Network, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

The bill also asks the president to certify that Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting Haqqani Network senior leaders and mid-level operatives. The bill also notes that the US President cannot issue a separate designation of Pakistan as a Major NATO ally, unless a presidential certification that Pakistan continues to conduct military operations that are contributing to significantly disrupting the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani Network in Pakistan.

Pakistan was named a Major non-NATO ally during the Bush Administration in 2004. Currently, there are 17 Major non-NATO ally. Brazil was the last country to given this designation by President Donald Trump in 2019. The designation gives the countries to entry into cooperative research and development projects with the Department of Defense (DoD) on a shared-cost basis, participation in certain counter-terrorism initiatives, purchase of depleted uranium anti-tank rounds, priority delivery of military surplus (ranging from rations to ships).


It also gives them access to War Reserve Stocks of DoD-owned equipment that are kept outside of American military bases, offers them loans of equipment and material for cooperative research and development projects and evaluations and permission to use American financing for the purchase or lease of certain defense equipment.


The designation among other things expedites export processing of space technology and permission for the country's corporations to bid on certain DoD contracts for the repair and maintenance of military equipment outside the United States.
However, President Trump in January 2018 suspended all financial and security assistance to Pakistan. The outgoing Trump Administration even considered terminating the designation of Pakistan as a Major non-NATO ally.


Under the Obama Administration, US designated India as a Major Defense Partner.

Bill introduced in US House to terminate designation of Pakistan as Major non-NATO ally - Times of India

On the first day of the 117th Congress, a lawmaker has introduced a bill in the US House of Representatives to terminate the designation of Pakistan as a Major non-NATO Ally. The bill removes Pak's designation as a major non-NATO ally, a status that allows benefits such as access to excess US...

m.timesofindia.com

It is time to Pakistan to impose tax on US transit in Afghanistan.

 

[Falcon26]

A lot of the people commenting on this thread don’t have the slightest clue on how US politics works, especially how congress works.

Anyways, this only shows the importance of having a well funded lobby machine. The representative who came up with this bill probably did so at the suggestion of a lobbyist.

Since coming to power in 2017, Andy Biggs has had only 4 bills that he introduced that became law. All 4 of these bills were noncontroversial and enjoyed cross party support. This latest bill is quite radical and has zero chance of gaining any traction.

The Indian media is promoting this non news item for obvious reasons. No one is paying attention to it in the US or even among Andy Biggs’ constituency.

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

This is because Pakistan refused to recognize Israel and because of Indian lobby.

 

[alphapak]

No worries, they are fast decreasing in numbers. Pakistan's future is now firmly intertwined with that of China. We no longer have any use for america or americisms.

That is a good thing Pak should just buy weapons of China, Turkey and Russia but most
important is making weapons in Pakistan like the Jf 17 thunders.

 

[cloud4000]

Bills are introduced all the time - usually if you see it by a generally unknown congressman then its lobbied in there through a connection. It will get voted on but that all depends on the lobbying from pro-Pakistan folks.
By the time this reaches the floor, Biden may be in power.

This is not the first time such a bill has been introduced. But again, countless bills are introduced that never see the light of day. This is one of them. It will simply die on the vine.

This is because Pakistan refused to recognize Israel and because of Indian lobby.

The MNNA was always a marketing gimmick to give the appearance of something important when, in fact, it was not. You would think that Pakistan would be treated on par with NATO allies, but this was obviously bogus. What kind of an MNNA ally can't get hold of used F16s, or get new ones equipped with AESA and the latest air-to-air missiles?

 

[Black.Mamba]

if the news is the true then it is about time to celebrate Yaum-e-Nijat from Shaitan

 

[cloud4000]

This news means d!ck to the Pakistani people.

But just as a 'F-U', we'll ask Congressman Andy Biggs what his views are once we leave the Afghan Peace Process table. Good Luck unlocking that hell hole on your own.

It'll be interesting how the US marks 2-decades of failure [a la VietNAM] in a few months.

The US answer will be: so what?

The US Afghanistan project was deemed a failure even before the Afghan Peace Process began, so what does it matter now whether it succeeds or fails?

And who will suffer more if the peace talk fails: the US or Pakistan?

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

What celebrations what good news??..sorry but we Pakistanis are idiots in this regards... we should retain the status and follow our national interests.. play the ball and milk the cow as much as you can without taking the bait.
US still needs Pakistan...why do we want to give up our cards..

 

[Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen]

The writing was on the wall when US refused to sell AH-1Z to Pakistan.

 

[Tomcats]

Okay i have found a better source so it seems the bill was reintroduced along with 28 bills hence the development.

Congressman Andy Biggs Starts Third Term, Introduces 28 Bills

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Andy Biggs (AZ-05) was sworn in for the 117th Congress, starting his third term as a member of the House of Representatives. Congressman Biggs offered the following statement:

biggs.house.gov

 

[masterchief_mirza]

Good news. Meanwhile the obsession of Indian media with anything related to the Mughal successor state continues. How do they sleep at night?

 

[blain2]

We are anyway embargoed. So basically nothing will change.

Gents, let's sift through the issues instead of angry calls for a complete divorce. We are not embargoed.
Pakistan can buy what it wants from the US as long as we can fund the purchases ourselves. Our economy does not allow that otherwise additional F-16s would be possible as well as hardware for the Army and the Navy.

The Major Non-NATO ally designation only applies to surplus gear that is deemed suitable for the country. Also, this bill has to have sufficient support to get through. With the Afghan peace talks ongoing, as it is, the US has a very limited leverage on Pakistan, I don't think anyone sane would like to completely give that up.

Our issue is one of weak economic position. Yes, we won't get access to F-35s etc. but if we have money to spend, we can buy from the US. Despite the stoppage in US military aid (thank goodness!), we have still made purchases of sniper rifles and carbines from the US.

One cannot ensure ones security by relying on aid from others. Our civil AND military leadership needs to understand this. We may not get everything we want, but Pakistan can buy good military gear from the US with its own funding. That is the issue on hand. Giving aid is America's prerogative. It is shameful that we are upset at them for not giving us aid. We should not ask for it and we should never take it. It is like we tell our children to not rely on credit cards. You buy what you can afford or make yourself. It is quite simple.

Jazbaat aside, we have got a lot of assistance from the US. Far more than the $650M in the F-16 debacle that we complain about. As part of our maturity as a state, we need to wean ourselves off this dependency on security assistance altogether (meaning even if it is offered in the future we say no!). Turkey was the single largest consumer of security assistance in NATO. They had an inexhaustible appetite to consume whatever the US/NATO had on offer as surplus. They weaned themselves off and after doing that, the quality of technology has vastly improved in the Turkish military.

We need to learn and do the same. The upgrades to POF (~$350M) should be made post haste. It is imperative that we do these things for our local defense industry so the reliance on external players is reduced.