WASHINGTON, April 27: The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) issued a 'red action alert' on Tuesday, urging Indian Americans to campaign for a law which can prevent President Bush from designating Pakistan a non-Nato Major Ally.
The designation entails some military and economic benefits, but apparently what worries the Indian community most is a provision that exempts such an ally from US sanctions.
A USINPAC letter says that the Bush administration's decision to designate Pakistan a non-NATO major ally, announced during Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to Islamabad last month, "has raised considerable alarm within the Indian- American community, given its significant potential to create negative ramifications for India."
USINPAC is a bi-partisan committee representing India's interests at all levels of the US government, and often coordinates its major political campaigns with America's most powerful political lobby, the American Israeli Political Action Committee.
The letter reminds the Indian community that Congressman Gary Ackerman wrote a joint letter on April 2 to President Bush with 19 other members of Congress, expressing serious concern about the decision.
Under the current law, the US president has the authority to designate a country as a non-Nato major ally by simply notifying Congress. The letter terms this 'an obvious flaw in the system' and informs the Indian community that Congressman Ackerman has proposed legislation requiring that a nominee for the status "must have a democratic form of government and adhere to the US objectives of non-proliferation."
The proposed amendment would require the US president to certify that a country meets these requirements before it can be designated a non-Nato major ally, the letter says. "I urge each of you to write or email your local member of Congress asking him/her to support and cosponsor the proposed amendment," said Sanjay Puri, the USINPAC executive director.
