Lifting of sanctions a matter of time: Chandra

WASHINGTON, JAN. 23. India's ambassador to the United States, Mr. Naresh Chandra, today said that it was only a matter of time before the U.S. lifted the remaining sanctions against India since there is better appreciation in the U.S. Congress on the bipartisan lines of the security requirements in the subcontinent.

The new U.S. administration and India needed to understand each other better before any action was taken by Washington on the remaining sanctions affecting defence cooperation and dual-use technology. This position was made clear by the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, during his confirmation hearings before the Senate last week, Mr. Chandra said replying to questions at the School for International Studies of the American University.

Mr. Chandra, who is ending his four-year tenure as Ambassador to Washington in a month, said India would not sign the discriminatory Non-Proliferation Treaty and had not initialled the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty. ``In spite of this stand, there is now wide appreciation in the U.S. Congress that there should be no sanctions against New Delhi.''

Since both countries genuinely believed that they were natural allies they should take steps to achieve the goal, he said. As for India, he suggested, it should be even more open on issues of concern to the U.S. and clear the last vestiges of the Cold War while Washington should appreciate the aspirations of Indians.

Defending the recent launching of Agni-II, Mr. Chandra said the world should realise that New Delhi lived in a rough neighbourhood. Having an indirect dig at the U.S. for not imposing sanctions against China, though there was evidence it passed on missile technology to Islamabad, Mr. Chandra said lot of technology transfers involving strategic materials had taken place in violation of international agreements in the region. This has led to a dangerous asymmetry warranting India to react.

- UNI

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