Research · Reference
Policy glossary
The laws, agreements, institutions and places that come up again and again in relations between the United States and Pakistan, each explained in a short, neutral, sourced entry.
65 entries, A to Z
10 of 65 terms in Security. Show all
C
E
end-use monitoring
security. Also Golden Sentry. Checks by the US government that defence articles and services it transfers are used, stored and secured as the transfer agreement requires and are not passed on without permission. For government-to-government transfers, the Defense Department’s Golden Sentry programme, managed by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency since 2001, carries this out under section 40A of the Arms Export Control Act, through compliance visits and checks.G
ground lines of communication
security. Also GLOCs, NATO supply routes. The overland routes through Pakistan, from the port of Karachi to the Afghan border at Torkham and Chaman, that carried supplies for US and NATO forces in landlocked Afghanistan. Pakistan closed them for seven months after a NATO air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at Salala in November 2011, and reopened them in July 2012 after the United States apologised for the losses.H
Haqqani network
security. Also Haqqani Network, HQN. An Afghan militant organisation founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, a commander against Soviet forces in the 1980s, and later led by his son Sirajuddin. Allied with the Taliban, it was blamed by US officials for major attacks in Afghanistan, including on US forces, and was said to operate from Pakistan’s North Waziristan. The United States designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization in September 2012.I
Inter-Services Intelligence
security. Also ISI. Pakistan’s principal intelligence agency, established in 1948 to coordinate intelligence among the army, navy and air force. Staffed largely by serving military officers and headed by an army lieutenant general, it handles external and internal intelligence and counterterrorism. In the 1980s it channelled US- and Saudi-funded support to Afghan mujahideen fighting Soviet forces, and its role in Afghanistan has been a recurring issue in US–Pakistan relations.International Military Education and Training
security. Also IMET. A US grant programme, funded through the State Department’s foreign-aid budget and run with the Defense Department, that pays for foreign military personnel to attend US professional military education and training. Pakistani officers have taken part since the early 1960s, apart from an interruption in the 1990s. Pakistan’s participation was suspended in 2018 with other security assistance and was approved to resume in late 2019.M
Major non-NATO ally
security. Also MNNA, major non-NATO ally status. A status the US President can give a close partner that is not a NATO member, under section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act. It brings privileges such as priority delivery of surplus defence materiel, loans of equipment and cooperative defence research, but no security commitment. President George W. Bush designated Pakistan on 16 June 2004.Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement
security. The agreement signed on 19 May 1954 under which the United States undertook to provide military equipment and training assistance to Pakistan’s armed forces, beginning the two countries’ Cold War security partnership. It followed Pakistan’s cooperation pact with Turkey earlier that year and preceded Pakistan joining SEATO later in 1954 and the Baghdad Pact in 1955.S
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization
security. Also SEATO, Manila Pact. A collective-defence organisation created by the Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty, signed in Manila on 8 September 1954 by the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and Pakistan. Built to resist communist expansion in Southeast Asia, it had no standing forces of its own. Pakistan, which had hoped it would help in disputes with India, later withdrew, and the organisation was dissolved on 30 June 1977.T
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan
security. Also TTP, Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. A militant alliance formed in 2007 in Pakistan’s tribal areas to oppose Pakistani military operations there. It has carried out many attacks on Pakistani security forces and civilians and claimed responsibility for the attempted Times Square bombing in New York in 2010. The United States designated it a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2010. It is separate from, though allied with, the Afghan Taliban.No terms match your search.
Definitions are kept short and neutral, and each cites its sources on the term’s page. Spotted something to correct? Tell us.