US to support WB, ADB loans for quake-hit

US to support WB, ADB loans for quake-hit

MAR 3: The United States will support loans by World Bank and Asian Development Bank to India for the rehabilitation of quake-hit areas of Gujarat.

This was stated by Acting Assistant Secretary of State Alan Eastham at a hearing of the House International Relations Subcommittee, headed by Benjamin Gilman, following demands by members to provide aid and "soft loans" to India.

While Congressman Bob Menendez, a co-founder of the India Caucus, urged President George W Bush to play a leading role in the recovery efforts in Gujarat, fellow member Gary Ackerman asked the US administration to lift the remaining sanctions against India, imposed after the 1998 nuclear tests.

Members said India had already approached the WB and ADB for a loan of 1.5 billion dollars. They suggested the amount be provided in the form of soft loans keeping in view the enormous damage by the quake.

Leonard M Rogers, Acting Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Humanitarian Response in US Agency for International Development (USAID), while giving an account of the efforts put in by the agency, showered lavish praise on the relief operations mounted by the Indian Government.

"From the beginning, the Government of India has provided strong leadership in response to this major disaster. They deployed their military as an integral part of the relief effort and, through both national and state governments, have provided most of the material support," he said.

Members urged the US administration to provide India with modern contruction technology in order to make the buildings strong enough to withstand earthquakes and other natural calamities.

Congressman Ed Royce, who showed the Committee pictures of the disaster taken during his visit to the scene, said that as one who had been in the cement business, he was shocked by the "poor quality of the construction material used."

By satellite link, US Ambassador to India Richard Celeste, Walter North, Mission Director to India for USAID, Sean Callahan of the Catholic Relief Services/India, and Thomas Alcedo of Care/India gave a first hand accounts of the situation and the American response.