Clearly, the Senate decision reflects the might of the American farm lobby, and is far removed from any consideration for the poor of Pakistan. This is all of a piece with the US government's realpolitik with China, where a fascist government which denies elementary freedom to its citizens, which sells missile technology to other countries, and which oppresses minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet, is assiduously wooed because of the orders it places with US business. The sanctimonious stand that loans forhumanitarian purposes will not be affected by the sanctions is based on a misconception regarding the nature of poverty reduction, a misconception which one would have expected the US establishment to understand very well.

After all, US economists have been the main proponents of the theory that economic growth is the best antidote for poverty. And if that is true, loans for power plants, or for industry, lead to higher employment, more income in the hands of the poor, and a reduction in poverty. A loan for setting up an industry would be more humanitarian than hand-outs to the poor. The Indian government's stand that the sanctions will hurt US interests has been entirely vindicated. The US government will soon realise that sanctions are a blunt instrument, and that constructive dialogue is the only way to sort out differences.