The Hindu : U.S. waives sanctions against Pak.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 16, 2003

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U.S. waives sanctions against Pak.

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington March 15. In a move that will add to the improved bilateral political relations, the United States President, George W. Bush, has waived sanctions against Pakistan making it eligible to receive millions of dollars in economic assistance.

Mr. Bush on Friday waived a set of sanctions imposed on Pakistan in the aftermath of the 1999 military coup that saw the coming to power of Pervez Musharraf.

In a written memorandum to the Secretary of State on the subject of `Waiver of Coup-Related Sanctions for Pakistan', Mr. Bush said the lifting of sanctions would facilitate the transition to democratic rule in Pakistan and "is important to the United States' effort to respond to, deter or prevent acts of international terrorism''.

Even as the fuller implications of the waiver are being worked out, the first impression is that Pakistan could benefit for $ 250 million that had been approved by Congress earlier this year. The waiver has also to be seen in the context of what is being played out at the United Nations' Security Council where Pakistan is now a rotating non-permanent member for two years and whose support on Iraq is widely sought by the Bush administration.

The Bush administration detests the notion that non-permanent members are being pressured and "lured'' with promises of economic assistance — or are being threatened with the withholding economic assistance, bilaterally or in international financial institutions — but it is well known that there are no free lunches. One version is that for all the noises to the contrary at home, Pakistan is in the U.S. camp vis-à-vis the U.N. vote on Iraq.

Holding out the possibility of increased economic assistance could be a card at the United Nations, it is a slightly different story as far as Pakistan is concerned. The U.S. would very much like to have Pakistan's vote in the Security Council, but is not going to be unduly perturbed if Islamabad abstains during the vote for the simple reason that the U.S. sees Pakistan as a crucial partner in the war against terror and in tracking down members of the Al-Qaeda and the remnants of the Taliban.

The White House has announced that the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, would visit the U.S. to meet Mr. Bush on March 28. "The leaders will discuss bilateral, regional, international issues as well as our close cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan in the war on terror,'' the spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said.

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