Sanctions to go in stages

WASHINGTON, JUNE 20. U.S. sanctions on India and Pakistan, imposed after both countries went nuclear in 1998, will not be lifted in one go and a decision on this issue will be taken on the basis of the U.S.'s relationship with the country.

The State department spokesperson, Mr. Richard Boucher, briefing newspersons here on the deliberations of the luncheon meeting between the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, and the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, said, ``we take each of these on its merits. We look at the progress and where things are going in individual relationship and decide what we can do in those terms.'' Earlier in the day, Gen. Powell, addressing a joint news conference along with Mr. Sattar, said they discussed how one gets through the process of eventually lifting the sanctions in south Asia. ``We will be dealing with all of those issues as we move forward in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation,'' he added.

Mr. Boucher was replying to whether the sanctions against India would be lifted sooner than Pakistan and the terms and conditions for ending it. Pakistan has as many as five layers of sanctions, including one for toppling democracy and installing a military dictatorship.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Ms. Christina Rocca, has said she is ``very optimistic'' that post- Pokhran II sanctions against India will be lifted before the Prime Minister, Mr. A.B. Vajpayee, visits America in September. This is the first time a possible date for the lifting of sanctions has been mentioned.

The Indian ambassador, Mr. Lalit Mansingh, said that India is pressing the U.S. to lift not only these sanctions but also those imposed earlier.

- UNI, PTI

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