India blasts US bias towards Pakistan

New Delhi, Nov 7: India today accused the US of again playing favourites in the sub-continent by lifting a greater number of economic sancti...

New Delhi, Nov 7: India today accused the US of again playing favourites in the sub-continent by lifting a greater number of economic sanctions against Pakistan than India.

A statement by the Ministry of External Affairs here said the remarks by US officials on Pakistan, reveal 8220;a selective and discriminatory approach which we find hard to understand and reconcile with.8221;

They were reacting to comments made by unnamed US officials, explaining that the gamut of economic sanctions was being lifted against Islamabad 8220;whose implosion Washington is keen to prevent.8221; An IMF team, which is arriving in Islamabad on Monday, is now expected to tie up the next loan tranche to Pakistan. Prime Minister Vajpayee8217;s envoy Jaswant Singh will also go into the fifth round of talks with US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott in Rome, Italy, on November 19, with a clearer understanding of where both sides stand in the bilateral strategic dialogue. While the US has partially lifted economic and military sanctionsagainst India, the refusal to go the whole hog has dismayed officials here. 8220;Obviously, the US wants to bail out Pakistan again. Its an old relationship, that goes back fifty years, and now the story repeats itself,8221; the sources said.

Analysts also point out the interesting coincidence between the US announcing a 5 million reward for terrorist Osama bin Laden, currently seeking refuge in Afghanistan, and the act of lifting most sanctions against Pakistan.

They say that since Pakistan is only one of three countries the others are Saudi Arabia and the UAE that recognises the Taliban, the militia that rules Kabul, Washington is seeking to make a deal with Islamabad in exchange for bin Laden.

The analysts added that even if Pakistan8217;s Nawaz Sharif is prepared to tell Clinton during his meeting with the US President on December 2 that Islamabad is ready to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty CTBT, that won8217;t mean a big victory for Washington. 8220;As long as India doesn8217;t sign the CTBT, there is noreal movement on that score,8221; they said.

Meanwhile, a US team led by Matthew Daley from the foreign office will begin talks on lifting export controls against India on November 9-10. The US officials are drawn from the departments of Energy, Commerce, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the Bureau for Politico-Military Affairs in the State Department.