US today said India and Pakistan cannot be meted equal treatment on sanctionsbecause apart from nuclear-related sanctions, Islamabad faces sanctions due tothe military coup and those will remain in place till a democratically electedgovernment takes office.
"The Pakistan Government is still faced with sanctions triggered by themilitary coup. Under the law, these sanctions will remain in place until thePresident can certify to Congress that a democratically elected government hastaken office", US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia ChristinaRocca said.
"General Musharraf's decision to name himself President raises newquestions about how Pakistan will return to constitutional, democraticgovernment. We will be watching this closely in the months ahead," Roccasaid addressing the Pakistan American Congress here.
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Rocca was responding to the plea by Pakistan's Ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhifor non-discriminatory treatment between India and Pakistan on the sanctionsissue.
Referring to the forthcoming Musharraf-Vajpayee summit, she urged restraintand reduction of violence on all sides to facilitate prospects for dialogue toproduce positive results.
She said, "The United States is pleased that Pakistan is following thepath of dialogue with India in order to resolve the serious differences thatdivide the two countries. We have applauded President Musharraf''s decision toaccept Prime Minister Vajpayee's invitation to meet. We wish every success tothe two leaders when they get together in July.
Lodhi Urges US Intercession
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Earlier Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Maleeha Lodhi, urged "fairand friendly intercession" of the United States to resolve the Kashmirissue and in overcoming the "legacy of antagonism and distrust"between Islamabad and New Delhi.
She pleaded that there should be no "discrimination" between Indiaand Pakistan in the lifting of US sanctions and stressed the need for a"balance" between India and Pakistani conventional forces.
She was speaking at the annual Pakistan Day programme of the US-basedPakistan American Congress on June 27.
Among those who heard her was the new US Assistant Secretary of State forSouth Asia, Christina Rocca.
In a lengthy speech distributed to the media today, Lodhi said that a newsecurity architecture for South Asia should be built on four pillars -- nuclearrestraint; a stable nuclear structure in South Asia; resolution of the Kashmirissue; and the promotion of economic and social development in the region.
Prosperity for South Asia, she said, can be decisively accelerated by thecreation of a "five-dimensional link between South Asia and Central Asiathrough Afghanistan -- involving road, rail, oil, gas and electricity linkagesbetween the two regions.
Such arrangements could open the way for the exploitation of the naturaleconomic complementarities between these two regions, whose potential stillremains largely unutilized.
She said that a "balanced U.S. policy is critical to the realization ofthe goals of peace, stability and long-term economic development of Asia. Itwould encourage conflict-resolution and foster peace and cooperation."Encouraging regional domination, however, is likely to accentuate politicaltensions, increase diplomatic intransigence, perpetuate regional conflicts andintensify instability in the region," Lodhi added.
