ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (2000): The United States needs to lift sanctions against Pakistan and help tackle the problem of the disputed state of Kashmir, now one of the most dangerous regions in the world, a senior US senator said Monday.
But Islamabad’s military rulers must make clearer commitments for a return to democracy and work to combat terrorism, Sam Brownback told reporters here.
Such steps would encourage US President Bill Clinton to visit Pakistan during his coming trip to South Asia, he said.
“I would hope a more detailed road map back to democracy would be articulated soon and that work dealing with terrorism would be as well to help encourage the president’s visit to the region,” he said.
Brownback, chairman of the foreign relations subcommittee on near eastern and South Asian affairs, met Saturday with army chief General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a coup three months ago.
Brownback passed two amendments through the senate in the past two years to provide the administration with a waiver to lift US sanctions against Pakistan.
He said if that waiver was not used he planned new legislation to halt the sanctions.
“If the waiver is not exercised I will be putting pressure and bills forward to suspend this altogether,” he said.
“I really want the United States to be aggressively engaged in this region.”
The senator said relations between Pakistan and its larger neighbour India had become increasingly difficult, particularly over the disputed Himalayan state of Kashmir.
“The situation is very tense now between India and Pakistan,” Brownback said. “I am calling on both sides to de-escalate tensions and begin close discussions on all issues.
“It is a tense area, one of the most tense regions in the world,” he said.
During his visit Brownback also met with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar and Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz.
He said terrorism was high on the agenda in his meetings with the military leadership.
“Pakistan holds the key to maintaining regional balance and security and can play a major role in helping to fight terrorism,” he said.
Brownback said he hoped for a quick resolution to the problem of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, who lives in Afghanistan but is wanted by a US court for the 1998 bombings of two US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in which 224 people died.
Pakistan is the leading supporter of the Taliban militia who control most of Afghanistan.
“We have talked previously about the need to get Osama bin Laden arrested and brought to justice. I am hopeful that it could take place soon and we will have cooperation to do that,” he said.
He said the United States hoped both Pakistan and India would sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, even though the US senate stopped Washington itself from signing up.
But Brownback refused to say whether his meetings showed Pakistan was moving closer to signing.
