Unforgiving Clinton slaps sanctions

“By failing to exercise restraint, Pakistan has lost a truly priceless opportunity to strengthen its own security and improve its political standing in the eyes of the world,” Clinton, who spoke to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif last midnight in a last-ditch attempt to dissuade him, said sombrely.

The additional sanctions will pan out differently and be more damaging for Pakistan, which is already facing an embargo under the Pressler Amendment for its till-now covert nuclear weapons programme. Because of the application of Pressler law, Pakistan does not get US militaryand economic aid, and a paid consignment of F-16s has been held up.

Now with the additional application of the Glenn Amendment, the US will be constrained to block all multilateral aid to Pakistan, on the lines of what it did to India at the World Bank meeting earlier this week.

Experts say the consequences could be devastating for the Pakistani economy. The country is already seen as a basket case. Pakistan has foreign exchange reserves of only $ 1 billion enough for a month’s imports and a short-term debt to the extent of $ 5 billion. Only a few months back, Islamabad negotiated a badly-needed $-1.5 billion loan from the IMF out of which it has taken only $ 258 million. The rest, still in the pipeline, will now be blocked.

The Pakistani economy is generally seen as being less resilient than the Indian economy. Experts say the country could soon default on its payments. The Karachi Stock Exchange index, which has already dropped 25 per cent in the fortnight since the Indian tests, could be wipedout.Pakistan can also kiss goodbye to the 28 F-16 fighter jets for which it has already paid $ 658 million. There was a general consensus in the US administration and Congress that it deserved to get the planes back, particularly after the Indian tests. But that sentiment will most certainly evaporate.

During his brief remarks, Clinton also indicated that the US would now be pursuing an aggressive non-proliferation agenda by asserting that it is now more urgent than ever before for India and Pakistan to renounce further tests, sign the nuclear test ban treaty and take steps to reduce tension in the region.

“I cannot believe that we will start the 21st century in the Indian sub-continent by repeating the mistakes of the 20th century,” Clinton said.Sanctions against Pakistan under the Glenn Amendment will come about almost immediately, much like they did against India.

The US President did his utmost to ward off the Pakistani tests, calling Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the fourth time at midnightWashington time, last night, hours before Pakistan set off the tests. White House said in a 20-minute conversation, Clinton implored Sharif not to test.

But judging by the evidence US intelligence agencies obtained throughout Monday and Tuesday, Pakistan had already made the decision to test.

Satellite evidence showed that Pakistani technicians had planted nuclear devices in a shaft in Chagai Hills and poured concrete over it on Monday, in a process known as “stemming”. After this was done, the test was inevitable because it is almost impossible to retrieve the devices without detonation.

The tests were masterminded by A Q Khan, widely known as the father of the Pakistani nuclear programme. It is not yet known if Khan was at the site, but Pakistani media reported he had dispatched two of his senior scientists, Dr Fakharul Hasan Hashmi and Dr Javed Arshad Mirza, to the site.

The Pakistani media also reported on Wednesday that Ghauri missiles are being deployed at unspecified locations fearing apreemptive Indian strike on Pakistani nuclear installations.