After its military withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, the United States now plans to revoke the country's status as a major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) ally.

In a letter dated July 6, addressed to House speaker Nancy Pelosi, US President Joe Biden stated, “In accordance with section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2321k), I am providing notice of my intent to rescind the designation of Afghanistan as a Major non-NATO Ally."

The order, once passed, will leave Afghanistan ineligible to receive US' military training and assistance, sale and leasing of military equipment, access material and supply loans, as well as serve as a location for US-owned war reserve stockpiles.

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Kabul was designated as a major non-NATO ally in 2012 by the US.

NATO is a US-led intergovernmental military alliance between 28 European and two North American countries.

In August 2021, the NATO troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan following a Taliban takeover, ending nearly 20 years of war.

The country now faces one of its worst economic crises with widespread famine and poverty as well as suppression of women's rights.

Meanwhile, the US has withheld Afghan assets worth USD 9 billion since it pulled out of the country in a bid to keep the Taliban-led government in check.