Lift sanctions on Pak., says U.S. Senator

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, SEPT. 20. Barely hours after the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, addressed the nation and pledged support to the U.S. in its campaign against terrorism, a leading law- maker on Capitol Hill has called for the lifting of economic sanctions on Islamabad. And there are reports that the International Monetary Fund is also putting together a package for the country.

The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Jospeh Biden - a Democrat from Delaware - said Gen. Musharraf had taken the ``bold step'' at a time when America needed it most; and to keep his pledge he would have to take ``grave political risks.''

``We asked the Pakistani Government and people to choose sides and they have chosen to stand with us.I believe that we in turn must stand with them,'' Mr. Biden said even while maintaining that he was committed to the ``blossoming friendship'' of the U.S. with India, to non-proliferation and democratisation.

Senator Biden's stand in support of Pakistan is significant because recently, he had written to the President, Mr. George Bush, urging him to lift the sanctions against India and saying he had reservations on the same with respect to Pakistan.

The economic dimension of Pakistan's ``cooperation'' is evident from the steps being taken at major international financial institutions, where the largest shareholders are Western nations. Interestingly, the officials of leading international financial institutions have often denied that political compulsions matter in their decisions.

An agency like the IMF that doles out more than $ 90 billion by way of aid packages has a multi-year programme of assistance to Pakistan, totalling close to $ 1 billion in an agreement that dates back to 1997. Now, the focus is on a new package and not much is being disclosed about its size.

The IMF has been critical in the past of Pakistan's failure to stay with the terms of the accord; but now the situation has ``improved'' as a result of which negotiations for the new package is likely to succeed.

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Section  : International
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