White House quot;clearsquot; Indo-Russian project

WASHINGTON, April 28: Indo-Russian cooperation in missile technology has not been assessed to have violated any norms that would kick in US ...

WASHINGTON, April 28: Indo-Russian cooperation in missile technology has not been assessed to have violated any norms that would kick in US sanctions, the White House said today.

Presidential spokesman Mike McCurry said the US watches these matters quot;extraordinarily carefullyquot; and it has made no determination at this point that quot;any cooperation that we8217;ve detected is a violation of Mission Technology Control Regime guidelines.quot; Russia is a signatory to MTCR, a multilateral alliance that draws the line in the sand for ballistic missile technology exports.

quot;There are sanctions that arise when we see any type of export activity that is in contravention of MTCR guidelines, and we have not made that determination or finding, nor have we imposed any sanctions,quot; McCurry added for good measure. McCurry disclosed that Washington had had quot;very high-level conversationsquot; with the Russian Federation reflecting a broad range of proliferation concerns, and this matter in particular has been discussed. He did notelaborate. Meanwhile, notwithstanding New Delhi8217;s denial, the state department on Tuesday said the US was aware that India was working on a sea-launched missile called Sagarika, in conjunction with designing a nuclear submarine, both with Russian assistance.

Washington had raised the issue with Moscow, which had said its assistance was within the ambit of MTCR and provided assurances on that count. quot;We have made no determination that the Russian assistance to the program is inconsistent with these assurances,quot; a state department official told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, Pakistan had less reason to be sanguine with the possibility of sanctions against it being imminent. Foreign Minister Gohar Ayub Khan told the Pakistani National Assembly on Monday that the US was contemplating fresh restrictions against the Khan Research Laboratories under laws pertaining to the Missile Technology Control Regime MTCR.

The foreign minister told members that Pakistan had already conveyed to the US itsquot;seriousquot; concern regarding the action being considered by the Clinton administration, but said the new restriction would have no practical implications.

quot;Pakistan is neither a recipient of US aid nor has it received any military assistance since the Pressler law was invoked. If and when these restrictions are applied, these will be only against the Khan Research Laboratories,quot; he said. The US has announced that it is in the final stages of a review that will determine whether Pakistan8217;s Ghauri missile test is sanctionable. Gohar Khan told the House that Pakistan will continue its missile research and development programme.