US Secretary of State Colin Powell's announcement at a news conference in Islamabad on Thursday that "we will also make a notification to our Congress that will designate Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally for purposes of military-to-military relations" will be greeted with mixed emotions in this country.
Sceptics are already saying that we have been down that road before as members of anti-Communist Western alliances, SEATO and CENTO.
They also like to recall that despite Pakistan being a member of those alliances, the US did not stand by this country's side in its hour of need - that is, during its wars with India - to argue that once the US attains its objective of smashing its al Qaeda and Taleban enemy, "root and branch" it will go back to cementing or forging strategic partnerships, ignoring Pakistan's vital interests.
But the world has come a long way since SEATO and CENTO. Pakistan's elevation to a "major non-NATO ally" can actually work to its benefit. First of all, there is the unsettling reality that the US is now the sole superpower, which is intent on projecting its might and influence. Its current fight against Islamic militants in Pakistan's immediate northern neighbourhood, Afghanistan, is spilling over into Pakistan.
It is only prudent for a small country like Pakistan to have the sole superpower on its side rather than against it, especially when it has an old adversary which has always been on the lookout for an opportunity to harm it.
The promise of 'major non-NATO ally' status has come at a time Pakistan and India are engaged in a peace process to resolve their outstanding issues, in particular the lingering Kashmir problem.
The US being an active 'facilitator' in this process, its new relationship with Pakistan should mean it can be expected to act more even-handedly than usual in pushing the two sides towards the resolution of the core issue of conflict between them, namely the Kashmir problem. Besides, the congressional approval that the US administration is seeking for formal and enhanced military-to-military relations with this country will institutionalise the co-operation, ensuring that it will be long lasting.
Already, things have starting turning in Pakistan's favour. Less than three years ago, Pakistan was under a strict sanctions regime. Now the US has declared its intention to allow Pakistan to purchase modern military equipment, satellite technology, depleted uranium ammunition, and an enhanced co-operation in the defence sector research and development.
The long forgotten issue of the 40 F-16 aircraft, which the US had withheld despite having received the payment for them, has also been resurrected. Powell told journalists in New Delhi, before coming to Pakistan, that the issue is under consideration in Washington.
These developments should help address Pakistani concerns about the regional power balance.
The military-to-military alliance has been preceded by an assistance package of $3 billion that is to be dispensed over the next five-year period.
Terming the package the largest programme in the world, Powell explained that the money is to be spent on projects that directly benefit the citizens such as educational reforms, basic health improvement, and access to more reliable sources of water.
He also reminded his audience that the US is providing Pakistan with close to $1.5 billion in debt relief, and that Exim Bank has announced expansion of its financing options in Pakistan.
Of course, these favours are to be bartered for Pakistan's active support in specific areas.
The immediate and pressing US need is to elicit maximum Pakistani assistance in its fight against an enemy many of whose foot soldiers as well as battlegrounds happen to be in and around Pakistan, and also to help stabilise Afghanistan.
In fact, as Powell was making his remarks in Islamabad, a fierce battle raged in Pakistan's mountainous South Waziristan area between the Frontier Corp troops and suspected Taleban and al Qaeda fighters believed to be protecting al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Conscious of the local sensitivities, Powell was decent enough to express his "sadness over loss of life of some of your brave soldiers in the past few days." The bloody clashes in South Waziristan, understandably, have caused much unease in this country. However, so far as the general fight against extremism is concerned, there is a convergence of Pak-US interest.
Pakistan needs to bring extremism to an end for the sake of its own peace and security. One only hopes the hyper superpower will not drag its "non-NATO major ally" into future battlegrounds in the oil rich Central Asian republics or to clean up its present mess in Iraq.
Barring dark eventualities of this kind, overall, the new framework of Pakistan-US relations, coming as it does at a crucial point in Indo-Pakistan relations, may serve not only the US interests in the region but, for a change, also those of its small non-NATO ally.
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