WASHINGTON: Congressman Andy Biggs, a far-right Republican from Arizona known for his hard-line positions, has reintroduced legislation to revoke Pakistan\u2019s status as a major non-Nato ally (MNNA), a designation the country has held since 2004.<\/p>\n
However, the legislation focuses on action against the Haqqani Network, which the US State Department designated as a foreign terrorist organisation in Sept 2012.<\/p>\n
Analysts highlighted that even if the bill were adopted, its practical impact might be limited, especially since Sirajuddin Haqqani \u2014the son of Haqqani Network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani \u2014 is currently serving as the interim foreign minister of Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The US, it should be noted, continues to engage with Afghanistan through the Doha process.<\/p>\n
Bill among four put forward by far-right Republican; analysts say practical impact of move will be limited<\/p>\n
Last week, Biggs submitted four legislative proposals, including the bill aimed at terminating Pakistan\u2019s MNNA status. He currently serves as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance.<\/p>\n
The bill, titled \u201cTo terminate the designation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally, and for other purposes,\u201d has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n
The proposed legislation calls for the revocation of Pakistan\u2019s MNNA designation under Section 517(a)(1) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, unless the US president certifies that Pakistan is committed to: conducting military operations that significantly disrupt the Haqqani Network\u2019s safe havens in Pakistan; preventing the Haqqani Network from using Pakistani territory as a sanctuary; actively coordinating with Afghanistan to restrict militant movement along the Afghan-Pakistan border; and arresting and prosecuting senior and mid-level leaders of the Haqqani Network.<\/p>\n
The bill would also prohibit the president from reinstating Pakistan\u2019s MNNA designation until these conditions are met.<\/p>\n
Pakistan was granted MNNA status in 2004 by then-President George W. Bush, enabling it to access benefits such as military training, defence cooperation, and grant aid. The designation is intended to strengthen strategic partnerships and improve defence capabilities.<\/p>\n
Observers noted that Congressman Biggs has introduced similar bills multiple times since 2019, though none have progressed to a House vote.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a recurring initiative by Biggs,\u201d said one diplomatic source, adding that his efforts align with attempts during the Trump administration to pressurise Pakistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump had already suspended military aid to Pakistan,\u201d one expert noted. \u201cThis appears to be part of a broader push to pressure Pakistan to distance itself from China. Ironically, such measures could have the opposite effect, pushing Islamabad closer to Beijing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fate of the proposed legislation depends on whether it is brought to the floor for debate in the House and Senate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON: Congressman Andy Biggs, a far-right Republican from Arizona known for his hard-line positions, has reintroduced legislation to revoke Pakistan\u2019s status as a major non-Nato ally (MNNA), a designation the country has held since 2004. However, the legislation focuses on action against the Haqqani Network, which the US State Department designated as a foreign terrorist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4647,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645\/revisions\/4647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weeklyyoung.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}