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Nuclear Sanctions on Pakistan, India Lifted
WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (News Agencies) - The United States on Saturday waived sanctions imposed on India and Pakistan after the two South Asian rivals sparked world alarm with tit-for-tat nuclear weapons tests in 1998.
The move came after Washington piled heavy diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to force its military government to convince Afghanistan's Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden - a top suspect in recent terror strikes on U.S. soil.
But though the process appears to have been accelerated after the assaults September 11 on New York and Washington, Bush administration aides had made no secret of their belief that the sanctions had outlived their usefulness.
In a memorandum to Secretary of State Colin Powell, President George W. Bush, who is spending the weekend at the Camp David retreat in Maryland, said the continued presence of the sanctions "would not be in the national security interests of the United States."
White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said the process of reviewing the sanctions had begun months ago and involved intensive consultations with Congress
"We've had advanced our non-proliferation goals with these sanctions, so the job was done and we are now lifting them," Mamo told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
India and Pakistan had been lobbying hard for the lifting of the measures, which restricted military sales, financial and economic assistance.
Both sides are expected to play a key role in a war on terrorism declared by the United States in the aftermath of the attacks that have left more than 6,800 people dead or missing.
But an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, denied the president's decision to waive the sanctions was in any way connected to the terrorist attacks.
"The process started before the attacks and is not directly related to them," the official said.
Then-president Bill Clinton slapped sanctions on India and Pakistan following the tests, which forced U.S. policymakers to confront the new strategic reality of atomic weapons in one of the world's most unstable areas.
In the avalanche of change sparked by terror attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Bush has appeared keen to offer Islamabad help to ease political instability stirred by U.S. strong-arm tactics on Pakistan - where the Taliban has significant support.
Ahead of Bush's decision, Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman gave members of the House of Representatives and the Senate classified briefings on the decision, designed to gauge support for easing sanctions last week.
Sources say that the administration wanted to wipe the sanctions totally off the statute books with a waiver, but there was sufficient sentiment in Congress for a fallback position that would see sanctions lifted - but reapplied in the event of further nuclear tests.
The scope of Bush's decision was not immediately clear.
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