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US softens sanctions against India

The US government, citing a more flexible Indian policy on nuclear nonproliferation, is dropping its objections to a $ 150 million World Bank loan request by India for a power project, an administration official has said.

The disclosure represents eased sanctions imposed by the US against India after it conducted a series of nuclear tests last May. Similar sanctions were applied against Pakistan, which followed the Indian tests with tests of its own.

President Bill Clinton has been in contact recently with the two prime ministers, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Nawaz Sharief, about the possibility of a presidential visit to the subcontinent this year, the official said. Clinton has sent them letters and contacted them by telephone.

The official, who asked not to be identified, told reporters Clinton must be assured that any such visit would not be dominated by the same nuclear problems that have been the subject of repeated discussions at lower levels.

According to the official, India has been more responsive on other nonproliferation subjects, such as restraint on the export of sensitive technology and on the production of weapons-grade material. The administration also has been seeking progress, without much success, on a narrowing of Indo-Pakistani differences over Kashmir.

The administration is hopeful that its decision not to block the World Bank's loan for the project in Andhra Pradesh could help build momentum toward further progress. The official said the US does not plan to support the loan, but will allow a vote on it.

While India has been seeking renewed access to World Bank resources, Pakistan's main interest after the sanctions were imposed has been to regain access to loans from the International Monetary Fund. Amid evidence that Pakistan was heading for economic disaster, the US lifted its opposition to IMF loans for Pakistan in November.

The Clinton administration has been coordinating its policy on sanctions with other powers, including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.

Even if India and Pakistan do all they are being asked to do by these countries, the official ruled out the possibility they will be allowed to join the club of countries authorised under international rules to possess nuclear weapons: the US, China, Britain, France and Russia.

According to the official, the US holds that any such policy would only encourage other countries to break with the rules and seek to develop a nuclear weapons capability themselves.

Many countries, the official said, have been urging the US to stay firm on this point, including Ukraine, Kazakstan, South Africa, Japan, Germany, Brazil and Argentina. Each at one time either possessed or was trying to develop nuclear weapons, but all have since opted for non nuclear-state status.

UNI

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