It makes as much sense for Washington to provide weapons, technology, or even foreign aid to Islamabad as it does for America to subsidize Iran, North Korea, or Venezuela.
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In 1987, the U.S. Congress created the status of major non-NATO ally to strengthen countries that maintain important strategic relationships with the United States. This name is not just an honorific title. Other benefits include easier access to materials and supplies. It also makes partners eligible to receive technologies that are still in the testing phase and facilitates regular training with the U.S. military. This status goes beyond military benefits to diplomatic recognition, increasing commercial confidence in the relationship and greenlighting investment.
But in recent years, this designation process has broken down. In 2022, President Joe Biden granted Qatar major non-NATO ally status, despite the country’s support for the Taliban, Hamas, and numerous other Islamist, extremist, and terrorist organizations. Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, became a major non-NATO ally in 2002, but Biden has largely moved Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to appease the same progressive base that remains hostile to India. Both countries withdrew without designation.
President George W. Bush granted Pakistan major non-NATO ally status in 2004 due to the war in Afghanistan. Afghanistan itself received this status in 2012, but Biden revoked it after the Taliban capitulated. Pakistan never deserved the privileges of a major non-NATO ally. After all, Pakistan supported the Taliban. Two factories in Pakistan supplied the precursors for 90% of the improvised explosive devices used by the Taliban to kill American soldiers. Pakistan sponsored and refuses to extradite the terrorists responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 141 Indians and six Americans, as well as dozens of others from other countries. Pakistan is also the satrapy of China today. Leaked documents from 2023 show then-Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar openly pushing for Pakistan to pivot more closely to Beijing. It makes as much sense for the United States to provide weapons, technology, and even foreign aid to Islamabad as it does for subsidies to Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela.
National security is not about mollifying emotions or seeking goodwill from sponsors of terror like Pakistan. If Biden can remove the Taliban’s Afghanistan from its status as a major non-NATO ally, why shouldn’t Trump remove the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency’s Pakistan from that designation?
India is, of course, an independent country. It is proud of its independent path and consciously tries to avoid defensive alliances with the United States, Russia, and other powers. For example, Indian officials have resisted treating the Quad as anything more than a diplomatic framework. Besides the United States and India, two other member states, Australia and Japan, are both major non-NATO allies. Countries such as New Zealand, Brazil, and Thailand also have their own reasons for resisting a formal defense union, as does India.
The simple fact is that India deserves the status of a major non-NATO ally. US-India military exercises are already underway. The Tiger Triumph 2024, which was held near Visakhapatnam and Kakinada in late March last year, was a huge win for both countries. India can still diversify its sources of military imports, but with Russia’s default on contracts due to the recent war in Ukraine, it should be in India’s interest to guarantee priority from US suppliers.
Trump likes India and has a close personal relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Neither leader needs to waste time building trust or getting to know the other person. President Trump may be busy with the inauguration and the ball on the night of January 20, 2025, but PM Modi should call him early the next morning and request India’s status as a formal non-NATO major ally. It is. Frankly speaking, no country deserves more praise than this. When the two leaders meet, Prime Minister Modi should ask President Trump whether he will continue in office for the pro-China, terrorism-sponsoring government that currently rules Pakistan.
Michael Rubin is director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC. The views expressed in the article above are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Firstpost.
