New Delhi, March 18: The US desire to designate Pakistan a “major non-Nato ally” is causing India concern.

American secretary of state Colin Powell said in Islamabad today that his government wished to designate Pakistan a “major non-Nato ally”.

Delhi is yet to figure out what the designation means militarily to Islamabad.

But the political significance of elevating Pervez Musharraf as a special friend of Washington has begun to cause South Block fresh worries.

Powell’s announcement comes less than 48 hours after he assured the Indian leadership in Delhi that he would make it clear to Musharraf that cross-border violence in Kashmir has to be stopped permanently and cannot be seen as a seasonal phenomenon.

If India was feeling re-assured by this, the secretary of state’s announcement this afternoon has come as a surprise.

India has not officially reacted to Powell’s statement as senior officials in South Block are trying to figure out what it means in real terms for Pakistan. But in private, foreign ministry officials say the move does not augur well for India.

The US has already given similar designations to some other countries in Asia to indicate its close military ties with them. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Israel are among the countries that enjoy such a relationship with Washington.

It is not clear yet at which level the US wants to put Pakistan, but India is aware that the designation is politically significant for Musharraf and has ramifications within and outside Pakistan.

A section in the diplomatic circles here tried to play down the development, saying the designation is meant to help military cooperation between US and Pakistan over Afghanistan.

There are others who feel it will also help the Musharraf regime get a better and bigger military package from the US.

“It clearly shows that Musharraf is dictating terms with the Americans and despite the popular belief in some quarters that he is under tremendous pressure from the US, the move indicates that Washington is still willing to go some distance to please the Pakistani president,” a senior foreign ministry official said.

It is perhaps too early to say whether India will make a song and dance over the US secretary of state’s statement. Delhi’s response will be measured for two reasons.

One, Delhi does not want to come up with harsh comments that may strain India-Pakistan relations once again and create fresh hurdles in the peace process.

Two, a sharp reaction will only encourage detractors of the National Democratic Alliance government to highlight this as a failure of Delhi’s policy with Washington and Islamabad.