Sanctions may go soon -- US Congressmen

Sanctions may go soon -- US Congressmen
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, FEB 21: The United States is expected to lift soon the economic sanctions imposed against India after New Delhi conducted nuclear tests in May 1998, co-chairman of the caucus on India and Indian Americans Jim Mcdermott said today.

Speaking at a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, Mcdermott pointed out that the matter of sanctions was one of the issues which were put on the back-burner last year due to the US presidential elections.

He said he was optimistic that the present Bush administration in the US would initiate steps to review and lift these sanctions soon as, he added, they were having an adverse impact on both the nations.

His views in the sanctions were echoed by caucus co-chairman Edward Royce and Congressman David Bonior, the house minority whip. Mcdermott, Royce and Bonier are members of the US Congress delegation currently visiting India.

Congressman Mcdermott said the US laid tremendous importance on its relations with India. He pointed out that the state department was working hard to maintain the momentum of Indo-US relationship and assured the participants on full-fledged appointment to the post of US ambassador to India soon.

Congressman Bonior, in his address, stressed on the need to move forward with the peace process in Kashmir and stated that the US was willing to do everything within its power to help on the contentious issue.

Congressman Ed Royce highlighted the need to facilitate trade and investment links between India and the US. He said the caucus was trying to convince American businessmen that investing in a country like India, which followed a democratic system of governance, was more profitable in the long term than investing in a country that did not have such a system.

Regarding the caucus on India and Indian Americans, Congressman Royce pointed out that the 123-member body was the most populous and second most powerful caucus in the Congress. The caucus, he stated, was working hard to get American companies to focus on trade and investment opportunities in India.

During the discussions which followed, it was suggested that a small group of business and government representatives from both countries be formed to identify the key areas of cooperation and investment.

It was also felt that this group could initiate dialogue on key problem areas in terms of trade and investment between the two countries.

The need to remove perceptional problems coming in the way of better bilateral economic relations was also stressed. In this context, CII president Arun Bharat Ram emphasised the need for communicating recent changes in the legislative framework in India more effectively to the us government and business community.

A CII press release here today said that another suggestion which emerged out of the discussions was to engage a larger number of medium-sized US companies in India to promote greater business linkages.

It was also suggested that in order to achieve this objective, US-bound Indian business delegations should visit more cities there and not just confine themselves to Washington DC and New York.