WASHINGTON, May 19: The US decision to designate Pakistan a non-NATO major ally will be finalized during Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri's current visit to Washington, official sources told Dawn.

Mr Kasuri, who begins his three-day visit to Washington with a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday, is expected to push for an early designation. The Pakistanis also expect a date to be fixed soon.

The US administration has already informed the Congress about President George W. Bush's decision to grant the NNMA status to Pakistan. The formal notification to Congress was sent in the middle of April and the decision would become automatically effective 30 days after the notification.

According to the US State Department a non-NATO major ally is exempted from suspension of US military assistance. "They are also exempt from suspension of military assistance under the American Service members' Protection Act," said State Department's deputy spokesman Adam Ereli, when asked what the benefits of being a non-NATO major ally were.

"There are a number of other benefits too. These include having US-owned war reserve stockpiles on its territory outside of US installations, entering certain cooperative training agreements with the United States, and eligibility for expedited processing of export licences of commercial satellites," said Mr Ereli.