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Aziz Haniffa
Washington, Nov 7: US president Bill Clinton has decided to use the one-year waiver authority granted by Congress to lift some of the sweeping sanctions imposed against India and Pakistan because of progress in the non-proliferation talks with both countries.
The decision means that US companies doing business in India and Pakistan and`or hoping to invest in these countries will have access to assistance and risk insurance through the Export-Import Bank, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Trade and Development Agency. The ban on the IMET (International Military Education and Training) programme against India and Pakistan will also be lifted. Under this programme, senior and middle-level Indian and Pakistani military officers are invited for a year of training in some of America's leading military institutions and bases.
The decision also covers lifting of some parts of the Pressler Amendment against Pakistan that would enable it to receive American economic and military assistanceonce again. The amendment was triggered in 1990 when the then president George Bush could not make the annual certification that Islamabad was not developing a nuclear weapon. A senior administration official told India Abroad News Service that Clinton had decided to lift some of the sanctions under the waiver authority vested in him because "there has been some real progress towards achieving our non-proliferation objectives." The official said Clinton was likely to make a formal announcement on the lifting of sanctions some time next week. Sweeping sanctions were imposed against India and Pakistan when both countries exploded underground nuclear weapons in May, but since then a high-level dialogue has continued to take place between the US and India and also Washington and Islamabad, with deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott being the US point man in these secret negotiations.
The administration official, spelling out the progress that has been achieved, said the steps included both Indian primeminister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif indicating a willingness to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in their speeches at the United Nations General Assembly; both countries pledging a commitment to strengthening controls on exports of nuclear and missile technology; New Delhi and Islamabad agreeing to participate in the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty negotiations currently under way in Geneva; and both countries resuming their high-level dialogue."In the light of these steps we felt we should make some positive moves as well," the official said. Since 1990, when the Pressler Amendment was triggered, IMET was under embargo where Pakistan was concerned, but under the Brownback Amendment which granted the president the one-year waiver authority to lift the economic sanctions against India and Pakistan, the IMET programme was also covered because it is considered economic assistance since it is funded under the Foreign Assistance Act.
The administrationofficial acknowledged that "in the case of Pakistan, it (the president's decision to lift some of the sanctions) goes back to more than what it was (pre-May 1998) because Pakistan has not had IMET since 1990 when the Pressler Amendment kicked in."
The official explained that under the Brownback Amendment, named after its author senator Sam Brownback, Republican, economic sanctions that come under the purview of the Pressler, Symington and the Glenn Amendments can be lifted.
The official said the sanctions that would continue to remain against India and Pakistan would include those on high-technology exports, including dual-use technology, military sales and equipment, "which is something very important to Pakistan," and US opposition to "IFI (international financial institutions) loans to India." Where Pakistan is concerned, according to the official, Washington would not oppose lending by these IFIs, by using a technical ploy of abstaining from voting when such loans came up forconsideration.
Besides abstaining, the official conceded that Washington would also work with its allies to permit multilateral development banks to lend to Pakistan which is imperative if an agreement between Islamabad and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $1.5-billion bailout is to go forward.
The official denied that continuing to oppose lending to India while supporting such loans to Pakistan indicated a tilt or bias towards Islamabad and discrimination against India.
The official explained that "because of Pakistan's very serious economic crisis, we are going to work very closely with our allies to permit IFI lending in support of an IMF agreement with Pakistan."
The official noted that "because this is particularly focussed on Pakistan's economic crisis we do not want to give the same waiver for India since India's economy is far stronger than Pakistan's and not at risk."
"We are not trying to help Pakistan match India. What we are trying to do is keep Pakistan from going intoan economic meltdown, which is certainly not in India's interest either," the official said.
The official, obviously keen on removing any perception that there was discrimination against India, reiterated, "It's not because of India's economy being stronger. It's because Pakistan's economy is petering on the edge."
The decision by the president to waive some of the sanctions with immediate effect came as a surprise because on Wednesday, after three hours of talks with Talbott, Pakistani foreign secretary Shamshad Ahmad received no guarantees that the sanctions against Pakistan would be lifted in advance of prime minister Sharif's visit here on December 2 to meet with Clinton.Instead, Pakistan was pressed to reach an economic stabilisation agreement with the IMF before Sharif arrives here.
At the time officials also said there had been "no breakthrough" in the non-proliferation talks between Talbott and Ahmad that would envisage the lifting of the sanctions. The senior official said, "this(Clinton lifting some of the sanctions) is a decision that has been in the works for quite some time. It did not depend on the most recent dialogue with Shamshad Ahmad."
Ironically, some of the sanctions imposed under the Glenn Amendment were being lifted at a time the author of the amendment, former senator John Glenn, democrat, was still in space.
The 77-year-old senator, who first went into space more than three decades ago, lifted off aboard the space shuttle Discovery last month and is not expected back on earth till late next week.
During the debate on the Brownback Amendment, he strongly opposed the lifting of the sanctions against both India and Pakistan.
Kerb deals perk up
Stock prices firmed up substantially in kerb deals on the BSE as news that the US president Bill Clinton had decided to lift some sanctions against India and Pakistan reached the markets. RIL was up by Rs 7 at Rs 122.50-123, up from its previous close of Rs 119.60, Zee Telefilms by Rs 3-4 at Rs 660-661 (Rs657.50), L&T by Rs 4 at Rs 153-154 (Rs 149), SBI by Rs 7 at Rs 162-163 (Rs 155.20), Pentafour Software by Rs 13 at Rs 595-596 (Rs 582) and ITC by Rs 20 at Rs 723-725 (Rs 705) at 5 pm on Saturday.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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