USA blacklists 100 Indian, Pak firms
Waiver on farm sales passed

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 (UNI) — While Congress debates a temporary waiver on sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan because of their nuclear tests in May, the Clinton Administration is getting ready to release a long list of companies and government institutions in the two countries that Americans will be barred from doing business with if the sanctions stay in place, says The New York Times.

The daily quotes experts saying that the list, required under an amendment punishing nations that test to develop nuclear weapons, is due to be out soon and could not come at a worse time for Mr Nawaz Sharif and Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.

It recalled how both leaders pledged last week in speeches to the United Nations that they would sign the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty (CTBT) within the coming year although both lacked solid support for the move at home.

In India and Pakistan, where the nuclear tests met with jubilation, there have been second thoughts about the consequences of those tests, which alerted the strategic map of Asia and increased the number of countries with nuclear weapons for the first time in 30 years.

The US sanctions that followed covering loans, credits, credit guarantees, military and munitions exports were felt worse initially by Pakistan, which was already under Congressional restrictions, but India did not escape the effect, which will worsen if links with US trade and investment are disrupted.
It quoted Administration officials saying that they had no option, since the drawing up of the list was required by Congress under the 1994 Glenn amendment.

About a dozen Indian and Pakistani companies and fewer than 20 government departments in India and 15 in Pakistan were involved, the paper quoted officials saying. But dozens more subdivisions were also listed, bringing the list to 100 or more names. The most severe restrictions covered government organisations involved in nuclear or missile activities.

Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives voted the Agriculture Spending Bill authorising President Bill Clinton to waive sanctions on India and Pakistan.

However, the waiver would not be effective on any military technology or equipment and dual-use technology.

The House voted the Bill 333 to 53 at 0145 IST today.

The legislation gives President Clinton the authority to withdraw the US opposition to loans from international institutions like the World Bank to India and Pakistan.

It will also enable the president to allow the American Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to help boost export of US goods to the two countries.

Welcoming the decision, Congress man Frank Pallone who is also co-chairman of the House caucus on India and Indian Americans, said the sanctions had disrupted a variety of bilateral assistance programmes, including support for free market reforms that the USA wanted India and other developing countries to adopt.

The sanctions also reduced the ability of US companies to explore long-term opportunities in India’s vast consumer market and infrastructure development programmes, he added.

Mr Pallone said any waiver by President Clinton would help improve the relations between two countries (India and the USA) further.

American business community is anxiously waiting for the waiver as analysts say that export of US goods to these two South Asian countries has been badly affected due to the imposition of sanctions.

Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Karl F. Inderfurth said the impending release of list did not in any way reflect disappointment with the statements made by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in the United Nations last week.

Representatives of both Senate and House of Representatives agreed in conference on an amendment already agreed by the Senate.

The conference amendments were attached to the agricultural appropriations Bill for convenience.Since there is no “rule of relevancy” to attach any amendment on any subject to an unrelated Bill, White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry said said only agricultural sanctions would be lifted.

He said there was no proposal to lift other sanctions such as normal loans from the World Bank and exim bank loans which were necessary for sales by firms like Boeing to sell planes.

Mr McCurry had said on Wednesday that President Clinton had expressed inability to lift sanctions on both countries until more progress was achieved.

"Until more progress is achieved, we are not going to be able to lift the sanctions," Mr McCurry had said.

He, however, said the President would keep his options open on lifting the sanctions but the military export controls would remain in place.