Democratic Representative Frank Pallone, India's staunch ally in the US Congress, on Monday night slammed the Bush administration for conferring major non-NATO ally status on Pakistan.

In a special order speech in the House Pallone warned that the 'results of this new designation will be devastating'.
Pallone is the founder and former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans. He said the new status could throw a spanner in the rapprochement process between the two countries.

While acknowledging that the Congress has advocated 'for the US to view India and Pakistan as two separate, distinct nations', Pallone said, "At the same time we have advocated for fair treatment based on record of democracy, commitment to ending terrorism, and a variety of values important to the United States."

"India is a strong, vibrant democracy of over 50 years and Pakistan is a rogue nation under military rule. India's nuclear programme is civilian controlled and Pakistan's nuclear programme was sold to nations such as Libya, Iran and North Korea to assist illegal covert nuclear weapons programmes," he said.

"India is protecting its citizens from terrorism in Kashmir and Pakistan is sponsoring terrorist activity in its own backyard," he added.

Thus, Pallone argued, "I am taken aback by the new designation that the US has bestowed upon Pakistan."

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"Not only was I surprised, but India as a nation was surprised as well, particularly since Powell had just met with India's leaders, but he did not mention the new status of Pakistan that was soon to be announced," he said.

He asserted that naming Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally 'is completely inconsistent with US policies.

"Pakistan is not a democratic nation, Pakistan supports terrorism in Kashmir, and Pakistan has engaged in nuclear activity for which it has recently pardoned the key scientist who aided covert nuclear programs in rogue nations," he said.

Pallone warned the new status accorded Pakistan 'will lead to severe implications in the South Asian region'.

"It is unclear what this status means in legal terms, but the most immediate concern is that a rapid and large-scale supply of American military equipment will flow from the US to Pakistan, including the possibility of F-16s," he said.

"This is very concerning because US military supplies that were given to Pakistan for use against Russia and China have been historically used against India," he said. "Given the current climate of the conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, any additional weapons provided to Pakistan will likely be used to escalate this conflict between the two nations and has the potential to build up a full-scale arms war."

Pallone also warned that this new designation has the impetus for breaking down negotiations and peace talks between the two nations that have just gotten underway.

"Pakistan's newly established access to US military supplies will serve as an impediment to any further Indo-Pak talks," he said.

"Pakistan has a history of abusing military and nuclear equipment, and yet we are allowing them to have access to depleted uranium ammunition, special privilege in bidding for certain US government contracts, radar systems, attack helicopters and airborne early warning systems," he said.

Pallone pointed out that as a quid-pro-quo for Pakistan's assistance to the US-led war against terrorism, the US has already allocated $3 billion worth of assistance, half of which is military aid.

He said the new MNNA status given to Pakistan 'is unfair, inappropriate and most importantly, dangerous given the volatile nature of the South Asian region'.