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Pallone urges Clinton to lift sanctions

C K Arora in Washington

Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone last night urged US President Bill Clinton to lift, without delay, the ban on the World Bank and other international financial institutions' lending for India's infrastructure projects in recognition of the progress in the US-India dialogue on the nuclear issue.

In a letter to the president, he said, ''The United States can show its good faith and desire for improved relations with India by immediately removing the American objection to World Bank lending to India. The continued maintaining of World Bank sanctions against India does not contribute to the administration's non-proliferation goals and only serves to cut off India from vitally needed funding for infrastructure development.''

He hoped that the goodwill demonstrated in the latest round of the Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott-External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh talks would translate into this, and other, concrete steps and a more pragmatic approach from the US.

Pallone also hoped that Clinton would soon undertake a visit to India and Pakistan, the region that no US president had cared to visit in the last 20 years.

Pallone said the lifting of the sanctions would serve as an incentive for greater progress on the vital non-proliferation goals that the Clinton administration pursued.

He welcomed the ''growing sense of pragmatism and flexibility that has been demonstrated in the recent positions staked out by Talbott in his talks with Jaswant Singh.''

He said the sanctions imposed on India after its May nuclear tests had the ''unhelpful and unproductive effects of curtailing US-India business ties and have setback important development projects intended to help the people of India attain an improved quality of life.''

''It is increasingly apparent that the sanctions strategy has not achieved positive results, but only served to express continual condemnation with no incentives for progress,'' he added.

He applauded the president's action in lifting some of the sanctions in November last but said, ''I was concerned that the way the sanctions were lifted on India and Pakistan they fell short of the even-handed approach needed to build confidence.''

While Pallone appreciated the serious depths of Pakistan's economic crisis, he pointed out, ''I was and remain concerned over the decision to support lending by World Bank and international financial institutions for basic human needs in Pakistan, but not India.''

Pallone referred to Talbott's recent address at Stanford University, in which he wanted both India and Pakistan to adhere to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and show prudence and restraint with regard to ballistic missiles and aircraft and strengthen export controls.

He said these were worthy goals and ''I hope these objectives will be pursued in a pragmatic way that recognises the security concerns that led us to the current situation and continues to provide strong American leadership to achieve these goals.''

''At the same time, I would again urge that we remove impediments to achieving normal relations in other areas, particularly economic cooperation,'' the Democratic lawmaker remarked.

UNI

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