Rocca sees end to sanctions on India

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JULY 19. The Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Ms. Christina Rocca, has expressed optimism that the Bush administration will get through the issue of sanctions against India, but cautioned that as far as Islamabad was concerned the punitive measures under Section 508 will have to remain in place until the President certified that `full' democracy has been restored in that country.

Speaking to the media at the Washington Foreign Press centre prior to her departure to the region this weekend, Ms. Rocca said that both Washington and New Delhi are working to broaden the bilateral agenda and that proliferation will remain an important issue. Ms Rocca will be travelling to India, Nepal and Pakistan.

``Sanctions remain in place. I believe that we will get through the sanctions issue... There has been a little bit of a delay, but we are working on this issue and we are working with Congress because the fact is that proliferation concerns remain an issue. They are important. So we are working our way through the sanctions. I am optimistic it will happen'', she said.

In saying that a final determination has not been made on sanctions and that the administration was keen on working with Congress, Ms. Rocca also stressed the fact that currently there were two sanction reviews under way - the overall gamut of punitive measures and the other specifically related to India and Pakistan. She noted that it was also premature to say whether sanctions against the two South Asian countries will be lifted simultaneously or if one will precede the other, as has been reported in sections of the media.

Arguing that the paradigm of the Bush administration is to ensure that bilateral relations are truly that and not seen in the prism of third countries, she talked about the serious strategic, economic and natural ties that existed with India.

``Our natural ties have taken too long to pick up. It started in the previous administration and we want to continue that... and it is not directed at any other country. It is just a natural evolution of two democracies that have a lot in common'', Ms. Rocca said going on to point out the role of the nearly two million Americans who are of South Asian origin.

Ms. Rocca reiterated the position of the current Republican administration that the inability of India and Pakistan to come up with a joint statement at the end of the Agra summit did not mean that it was a failure. There was a sense of momentum in these meetings and Washington will continue to ``strongly support'' sustained high-level meetings, she said.

She stressed that terrorism in South Asia was of great concern to the United States. When it was pointed out that one of the major sticking points in Agra was Pakistan's refusal to discuss cross- border terrorism, she only said, ``We see the entire issue of terrorism and counter-terrorism as an important one in South Asia. We continue to talk to both governments about it. We think it is in the interest of Pakistan to work with us as well and they do''.

On Pakistan's insistence on pursuing a single-point agenda - that is Kashmir only - in talks with India, she said the United States is ``not taking a position on the agenda between India and Pakistan''. She also made the point that Washington was not involved in any way in the current negotiations between India and Pakistan. ``We won't be until asked to by both sides'', she observed.

Ms. Rocca also had the opportunity to put out what has now been a standard U.S. line on Kashmir - that is, the issue has to be resolved by India and Pakistan; and in the process ``taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people''.

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