Pakistan has been under a variety of sanctions since the late 1980’s from the United States. As a longstanding American ally, it holds the dubious distinction of being the “most sanctioned ally”.
Recently there have been some moves from the Bush administration to ease the sanctions regime on several countries, including Pakistan. However, it may be that what looks good on the surface will not be so helpful once the fine print is read. Pakistani-Americans need to be aware of this complex issue and encourage our congressmen to support an evenhanded lifting of sanctions in South Asia.
The sanctions regime grew out of American policy to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons capability to other countries. There is a great deal of hypocrisy on this matter, as America has never questioned Israel about its nuclear ability, and did not impose sanctions on India in 1974, when India tested an atomic bomb for the first time.
In the 1980’s Pakistan was pushing ahead on developing its own nuclear ability to counter the threat of the Indian nuclear monopoly in South Asia. The United States did not want Pakistan to be nuclear capable, and there was talk of the consequence of an “Islamic bomb”, as if Pakistan would go on some kind of nuclear jihad if it learned how to make these weapons.
At the same time, Pakistan’s support was critical in maintaining the Afghan Mujahideen struggle against the Soviet Army, a key part of the Reagan foreign policy of confronting communism. Larry Pressler, a senator from South Dakota, pushed through a law that forced the US to apply sanctions specifically to Pakistan if the US government did not “certify” that Pakistan did not possess a nuclear weapon. Most of these sanctions were military in nature, but some were economic. Reagan looked the other way and certified that this was true in the 1980’s, but once the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, there was no need to protect Pakistan from sanctions. The Pressler amendment went into effect, and among other things prevented the shipment of F-16 fighters that Pakistan had paid over 400 million dollars for already to US contractors.
In 1998, the BJP government decided to flex India’s nuclear muscle for reasons that few understand even today, and detonated several atomic devices. Pakistan was pressured not to respond, but felt it had no real choice, and therefore also made a series of atomic tests. South Asia was now openly nuclear armed. In response, the US, Europe, Japan, and several international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank) placed harsh sanctions on both India and Pakistan. Pakistan suffered more, as its economy was in a weak state, and Sharif badly mismanaged the aftermath. Charges of corruption in the handling of foreign currency accounts also contributed to Sharif’s own political weakening.
The new Bush administration is now reviewing America’s sanction policy. America has used economic sanctions as a major tool of its foreign policy, but with a large number of sanctions on a widespread cast of countries, it has become clear that sanctions don’t often work. Sanctions have failed to keep the nuclear genie in the South Asian bottle. American business interests realize that these sanctions hurt the US economically and create opportunity for other countries not party to the sanctions, such as Japan and European states.
The US Congress is also getting in on the act. Congressmen Ed Royce and Jim McDermott have introduced a bill seeking a removal of the “Glen sanctions” placed on both India and Pakistan after the May 1998 tests. While this would be helpful to Pakistan, it would leave the decade old Pressler sanctions, which are Pakistan specific and don’t apply to India, in place. This unfair outcome is not acceptable. Pakistani Americans need to work to convince both Congress and the President that a lifting of sanctions should leave both countries on an equal standing at the end of the day. Many of the congressmen supporting the Royce-McDermott legislation are in fact doing it out of a desire for Indian PAC money contributions.
The Pakistani community doesn’t have the same clout financially, which means we have to work harder. I was at a breakfast meeting with Congressman Stephen Horn, along with Ahmed Ali, the current President of COPAA, and Salam Al-Maryati, the Director of MPAC, where we pressed these points. We are also meeting with Senator Tim Johnson, who defeated Larry Pressler with the help of the Pakistani-American community, to discuss repeal of the Pressler amendment. Pakistani groups and organizations around the country need to work on this issue, otherwise we are going to see an unfair lifting of sanctions that will favor India and continue to punish Pakistan.