Panel pulls up Blair Govt. for 'backdoor ban' on Pakistan

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, DEC. 10. A key Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament has criticised the Blair Government for imposing an ``informal moratorium'' on arms- related exports to Pakistan even as officially there is no embargo. In effect, it has accused the Government of clamping a ban on Islamabad through the backdoor, sitting too long on its requests for licence - a charge which Whitehall has strongly denied.

The committee, in a report, questioned the time taken by the Government to decide on Pakistan's ``many'' outstanding export licence applications and said: ``We conclude that the fact that they were held up for so long strongly implies that an informal and indiscriminate moratorium was indeed in force.'' It rejected the Government denial and firmly said this ``does not alter our conclusion that there has been in operation an informal moratorium on strategic export licences for Pakistan.''

The committee started off by ``welcoming'' the fact that decisions have ``at last'' been taken on Pakistan's applications. Then came the sting: ``We question whether it need have taken quite so many months to reach these decisions. We are also minded to believe that the interest we have shown in this issue may have had a stimulating effect.'' In other words, it suggested that there might have been further delays had the committee not taken interest in the issue. It found the delay particularly inexplicable on applications for ``dual-use goods'' such as mine clearance safety equipment and firefighting material.

The report referred to the official explanation that the applications were decided on a strict examination, on a case- by- case basis and said such a policy should apply to ``all destinations'' implying that similar applications from other countries were cleared more expeditiously.

No freeze, only caution

The Government, in its response accompanying the report, categorically rejected the criticism saying ``no informal embargo, freeze or moratorium on exports of arms and military equipment to Pakistan was ever in force.'' However, after the Kargil conflict and the military coup in October 1999, the situation there was ``fluid and dangerous'' and any ``overly hasty'' decision on Pakistan's applications could have had ``serious consequences''. ``The Government believes these circumstances justify the time taken to assess the emerging evidence and come to decisions on the applications in question.''

Justifying the caution even on clearing applications for ``safety or protective'' equipment, the Government said all export goods were subject to controls because they could be ``misused in contravention of our national criteria and those in the E.U. Code of Conduct.''

The report should boost the Pakistani morale, which has taken quite a few blows since the military coup, even as it confirms the British Government's unhappiness with the turn of events in Pakistan. The Foreign Office here has made it clear

that it cannot be ``business as usual'' with Islamabad until there is a visible progress on a return to democracy. It is noted here that not a single British Minister has visited Pakistan since the coup even as there has been a series of high-profile visits to New Delhi.

Pakistani diplomats, however, say things are changing and Britain is beginning to have a better appreciation of Islamabad's position. The Foreign Affairs Committee report is just the sort of straw they may have been looking for.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Next     : No politicking on Saudi soil, Sharif told