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Permannet Sanctions Waiver: A Great Victory for India!
9th Oct 1999 Ram Narayanan @adelphia.net
Subject: Permanent Sanctions Waiver: A Great Victory for India! From: Ram Narayanan Date: October 9, 1999 Rep. Ackerman, Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, has hailed the outcome of the House-Senate conferees for adopting a broad-based waiver of sanction authority to the President. He has described it as a political triumph for pro-India forces in the United States. Rep. Ackerman said: "This sanctions relief bill is the manifestation of both Congress and the Administration taking India very seriously and wanting to engage New Delhi in a higher level relationship ... Now I urge the Administration to push ahead with an aggressive and positive approach aimed at speeding up better economic, political, strategic and people- to- people relations with India." Rep Ackerman added: "I now also respectfully urge the new Vajpayee Administration to continue to shed old suspicions and bugaboos toward Washington's intentions and join with pro-India forces in the US so as to elevate the relations between our two great nations to yet a higher plane". This certainly is a great victory for US-India relations! I will be sending a separate communication on some of the implications for India of this legislative initiative. However, at this point I would like to note that the Pressler Amendment remains on the books. It has not been repealed. Therefore, each and every license granted under Pressler waiver (e.g. if the Administration decides at some point to effect military sales to Pakistan), is SUBJECT TO CONGRESSIONAL NOTIFICATION, REVIEW AND APPROVAL. This means that the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans and the entire Indian American community need to exercise eternal vigilance and take pre-emptive action to STOP any such measure that is likely to hurt the Indian people. I would request you to carefully read India's good friend Rep Ackerman's press release at http://www.indiatogether.org/us/lobby.htm. But please do not offer any comments until you have had an opportunity to go through my follow-up communication tomorrow on some of the implications for India of the new legislative initiative. Thanks and best wishes for an enjoyable week end! Ram Narayanan http://www.indiatogether.org/us/lobby.htm
