'Sanctions against India have outlived their usefulness'

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, AUG. 29. The sanctions against India have ``outlived their usefulness and may paradoxically be impeding non- proliferation efforts rather than aiding them,'' says Mr. Joseph Biden, Democrat Senator from Delaware, in a letter to the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, urging the latter to lift the punitive measures.

Mr. Biden, however, said the use of the Congressionally authorised waiver by the President should not imply a weakening of the U.S. commitment to non-proliferation. He also said the existing export control measures on technology for the spread of weapons of mass destruction should remain in place, and perhaps be even more strengthened where necessary.

The task of lifting the sanctions against India through waivers mandated by Congress rests with the Bush administration. Although an approval is not required in each case, it calls for consultation with Congress.

In this instance, with Mr. Biden's open support for easing the punitive measures, it makes it all the more easy for the administration. Senior Congressional aides say the move will come shortly before or during the time of Mr. Bush's expected meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, in the fourth week of September in New York. The present Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a powerful voice among the Democrats on Capitol Hill, in a letter to the White House on August 24, said the Glenn Amendment sanctions were always intended more to deter than to punish and that the application of a ``one-size-fits-all'' non- proliferation policy was not appropriate for the special circumstances in South Asia.

Mr. Biden, a possible candidate for the Presidential election of 2004, has been emphasising the need for positive inducements other than measures that are both punitive and ineffective. ``Today, the economic sanctions on India serve to stigmatise rather than stabilise.''

The Democrat leader said he came to the present conclusions based on the discussions he had with Mr. Vajpayee, the Minister for External Affairs and Defence and the National Security Adviser. He also said the lifting of the sanctions may result in a more cooperative relationship with India.

``I hope that if we show our goodwill by removing this irritant, India will respond with reciprocal acts of goodwill in non- proliferation and other areas. As India responds with further positive, concrete steps of its own, Congress will be more likely to look with favour on the repeal (rather than merely the waiver) of the 1998 sanctions,'' Mr. Biden said.

Clarifying that his call for lifting sanctions against India was limited to the post-1998 Glenn amendment stipulations, he called for a reduction in the Entities List without jeopardising U.S. non-proliferation efforts. India's political commitment on the moratorium on further testing, its forbearance ``so far'' from making its nuclear weapons operational and a positive track record on export controls ``provide a positive foundation for our talks on security and non-proliferation''.

With regard to Pakistan's plea for the simultaneous lifting of the sanctions, Mr. Biden said the measures against Islamabad, including those under the Glenn, Pressler and Symington amendments, were linked to a discussion on the issue of Chinese supply of missile parts to Pakistan.

New legislation?

In another letter to the President, Mr. Tom Lantos, ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, said he planned to introduce a legislation soon aimed at lifting the punitive measures permanently.

``It is my hope that your administration will support this legislation,'' he wrote adding that as the legislative process was slow, he (Mr. Bush) could use the authority granted to waive sanctions against India and other restrictions in the realm of science, technology and high-tech cooperation between the two countries.

Mr. Lantos said that while he was a staunch proponent of arms control and non-proliferation, ``I do not believe that our nation's interests, nor the interests of non-proliferation are served by attempting to isolate India.

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The U.S. is more likely to get further commitments and compliance from India on international non-proliferation and test ban agreements by lifting sanctions and engaging in greater scientific and defence cooperation.''

On the lifting of sanctions against Pakistan, Mr. Lantos expressed reservations. He pointed to the history of proliferation of missile and nuclear technology from China to Pakistan; and in the implications of doing away with the Glenn, Symington and Pressler amendments. The lawmaker also pointed to the relationship between Islamabad and the Taliban in Afghanistan and, of course, touched on the issue of restoration of democracy in Pakistan.''

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