Hefty financial package for Pak.?

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, SEPT. 22. In an expected move, the Bush administration has told the members of Congress that sanctions against Pakistan would have to be lifted. It was also in the process of putting together a hefty financial aid package for Islamabad. ``We are looking at a big number... How much in cash and how much in debt relief is still being debated,'' a senior official was quoted as saying by The New York Times.

On Capitol Hill, the law-makers, who were originally opposed to the idea of lifting or waiving sanctions against Pakistan, have fallen in line.

Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate were briefed behind closed doors by the administration on Thursday and Friday.

The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Joseph Biden, has dropped his objections in view of Pakistan's ``commitment to fight terrorism.''

The decision on lifting the sanctions was conveyed to Capitol Hill by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Mr. Marc Grossman.

In focus are the Glenn Amendment sanctions slapped against India and Pakistan in the wake of the 1998 nuclear tests; the 1978 Symington Amendment; and the 1990 Pressler Amendment barring military assistance to Islamabad. According to the officials, the amendments were to be rid of with respect to Pakistan. ``There is a widespread feeling on the Hill that if Pakistan supports us, we should support them,'' an official told The Times.

The State Department has maintained that a decision on the lifting of sanctions against India and Pakistan is yet to be made. Interestingly, the paper quotes Pakistani officials as indicating that they had ``no problem'' with the sanctions being waived in the case of India.

Before the terror attacks of September 11, the Pakistani diplomats here were iterating that the U.S. could not ``differentiate'' between India and Pakistan on the issue. The broad thinking in the Bush administration then was to lift sanctions against India whereas with respect to Pakistan, it was doubtful.

What is being said now is that the sanctions relating to the 1999 coup (after which the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, assumed power), which cut off some developmental assistance under Section 508 of the Foreign Assistance Act, would be left in place. But this should be inconsequential given the ``big number'' the administration is looking at by way of a ``rewards package'' to Pakistan.

Besides political considerations, there is undoubtedly an economic angle to Pakistan's support to the U.S. in its fight against terrorism.

In fact, senior administration officials have been categorical that if nations are going to be punished for supporting terrorism, they must be supported or rewarded for fighting terrorism. And Pakistan has been deemed as a frontline State in this campaign.

After the entry of the Soviet forces in Afghanistan in 1979, Pakistan became a major staging ground for the campaign against Moscow, led by Washington. This too had a financial package.

The Carter administration initially came up with $ 400 million which was dismissed by the then President of Pakistan, Zia-ul- Haq, as ``peanuts.'' Eventually, the settlement was around $ 3.5 billion.

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Section  : International
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