South Asia sanctions policy under review: U.S.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, AUG. 14. The U.S. State Department has reiterated that the Bush administration ``is currently reviewing policy on South Asia sanctions'' and examining the broader use of sanctions as a diplomatic tool.

``... that review continues to be ongoing. It is a complex area,'' the deputy spokesman, Mr. Philip Reeker, said on Monday. And on the issue of sanctions, he said, ``no decisions have been taken on the changes that would involve consultations with the Congress. That is a very important aspect of all this.''

In the course of the general discussion of the punitive measures against India and Pakistan, the Administration points out that what are in place are the post-1998 Glenn Amendment sanctions and the earlier nuclear-related sanctions under the Pressler and the Symington Amendments.

What is also being said in terms of the ``South Asia sanctions'' is that a separate review policy is currently under way for both India and Pakistan.

Over the weekend, The Washington Post ran a front page story which said that the Bush Administration is seeking an early lifting of sanctions against India and is working with the Congress for the same.

The Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Richard Armitage, had made the point that progress in easing the sanctions against India would be made ``at a speed visible to the naked eye'' when lawmakers return from their recess in the first week of September.

The State Department has said that this meant ``movement''.

``Lifting of nuclear-related sanctions would have less impact on Pakistan as it is also subject to sanctions under the Foreign Assistance Act because of the October 1999 coup,'' Mr. Reeker said, adding that these sanctions can only be lifted on a Presidential certification that a democratically-elected Government has taken office in Pakistan.

The Republican Administration has made it known that it is for pursuing the framework of relations put in place by the Clinton Administration.

Washington knows that the sanctions are an irritant in bilateral relations; and at the same time has made it known that it is not for side-stepping Capitol Hill in the process.

While key Republicans like the Senator, Mr. Sam Brownback, have been urging for the lifting of sanctions fully, Democratic Senators like Mr. Joseph Biden are asking different questions. It is not that the lawmakers like Mr. Biden are against expanding the canvas of relationship with India; rather they want to know if the overall objectives of American non- proliferation agenda have been met fully.

It remains to be seen if the Republican Administration would go beyond the Glenn Amendment sanctions which would then give a larger meaning to future bilateral relations.

A compelling argument has been made that for the U.S.' relations with India to change in breadth and width, Washington will also have to pay very close and immediate attention to the existing pre-1998 measures.

Pak. caution

PTI reports from Islamabad:

Pakistan has cautioned the U.S. that any favour towards India alone in lifting of sanctions, would affect the efforts to improve relations between Islamabad and Washington.

Addressing the Pakistan-American Congress last week- end in Washington, the Pakistan Ambassador to the U.S., Ms. Maleeha Lodhi, said while New Delhi faced only one layer of sanctions, Islamabad has been subjected to five layers of sanctions, the Pakistan official APP news agency reported.

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