Ten US Congressmen press for aid cut off to India

This amendment was approved last night by a voice vote in the Senate and is likely to strengthen forces in Pakistan, not reconciled to recent peace initiatives by Prime Ministers I K Gujral and Nawaz Sharif.

Significantly, the so-called Burton Amendment is expected to surface in the US House of Representatives early next week. A similar amendment was resoundingly defeated last year by more than a two-thirds majority in the House, but Congressman Burton, who is bankrolled substantially by the Khalistani and Pakistani lobby, is returning again this year in another attempt.

Indian officials are surprised that Burton is back after last year’s rout. They say they expect the amendment to be defeated again. The House has been largely pro-Indian in this matter and the 88-member India caucus will be doing battle to defend the $ 150 million or so foreign aid which goes to India.

The ten Congressmen who support Burton’s amendment on Thursday wrote a “Dear Colleague” letter in which they urged fellow law makers to “join us in sending a message to India that the United States will no longer tolerate an ally that chooses to murder its own people,” a reference to the undeniable police excesses in Punjab and Kashmir.

But unlike many of their colleagues, these Congressmen are apparently oblivious to the corrective mechanism in India or to the continuing terrorist incidents like the recent train bombings in Punjab, say Indian officials.

The Congressmen, most of them pathologically anti-Indian, said the Clinton administration has requested $ 4.5 million more on development aid to India than it received last year. “We find such an increase difficult to justify to the American people who send their hard earned tax dollars to a country that shares none of our most-cherished values… let’s put the brakes on the foreign aid gravy train,” they wrote.

Signatories to the letter include Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher, Gary Condit, Peter King, Gerald Solomon, Edolphus Towns, John Doolittle, Roscoe Batlett, Esteban Torres, Linclon Diaz-Balart and Wally Herger. Rohrabacher is a Reagan White House relic who has never forgiven India for not adequately opposing the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The Government of India seriously toyed this year with the idea of totally forsaking US development aid (totalling about $ 150 million) which is a pittance in per capita terms when compared to aid to other countries. The thinking arose not only because of the burden of constantly having to defend against such sniping by maverick Congressmen, but also because it would send a strong message to the administration. Besides, most of the developmental aid is administered by American agencies.

But the option was shelved because it was felt doing so would be tantamount to not defending charges of human rights abuse.

In fact, this is the silly season of legislative sallies in the US House which is keeping the embassy on its toes. This is evident from the earlier mentioned Senate voice vote on Wednesday, resulting in an amendment in the Senate pushing for resumption of military training ties and some economic aid to Pakistan, both of which had been frozen under the Symington Amendment. The Pakistani lobby, in cahoots with the administration managed to spring this surprise on India.

Attempts to lift this portion of the embargo in the Brown Amendment had been thwarted in 1995. But two Senators, Tom Harkin and John Warner, succeeded in getting the amendment through in the teeth of opposition from Senator John Glenn.

Glenn, a former astronaut and a highly respected lawmaker with a distinguished record in non-proliferation activities, argued that resuming aid to Pakistan would be tantamount winking at the latest egregious violations by Islamabad including acquiring M-11s and test firing Hatf-III missiles.

“By golly, we should celebrate the fact that Pakistan does not yet have an ICBM, or that it has not yet attacked Indian civilian or military positions with nuclear weapons hung under the wings of United States supplied F-16 aircraft. Yes, we should be grateful for all the above restraint,” Glenn mocked his colleagues who made a pitch for Islamabad.

But his words fell on deaf ears as the Senate rushed the amendment through. The Senate amendment removes restrictions on US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to finance private sector investment in Pakistan. It allows the Trade and Development Agency (TDA) to divert available funds for promoting US exports to Pakistan. Pakistan military officers would now be eligible for undertaking military training in the US under the International Military Education and Training (IMET) programme.

US assistance would also be available for activities aimed at promoting democratic institutions in Pakistan.

The amendment was backed by the Clinton Administration which informed the Indian government of its decision only at the last moment.

The Indian embassy did not overtly oppose the amendment following the administration’s view that it mainly involved resumption of minor economic aid to Pakistan. But officials said in private that it would give the impression of rewarding Pakistani nuclear transgressions and would embolden Islamabad further. Elsewhere in the House, Congressmen Wally Herger moved another amendment seeking to eliminate bilateral economic assistance to countries which voted against the United States more than 50 per cent of the time in the United Nations.