India and Pakistan welcome ending of US sanctions

India and Pakistan have both welcomed a decision by the United States to lift economic sanctions imposed in 1998 after both countries…

India and Pakistan have both welcomed a decision by the United States to lift economic sanctions imposed in 1998 after both countries carried out nuclear tests.

However Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said they needed to see the complete details before making a more detailed statement.

"Our point of view has always been that sanctions...were not an effective tool and in a sense that position has been borne out now, " Ms Nirupama Rao said.

Mr Bush made the announcement last night.

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In a memorandum to Secretary of State Colin Powell, Mr Bush saidf: "the application to India and Pakistan of the sanctions and prohibitions ... would not be in the national security interests of the United States."

The decision came less than two weeks after terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon and is seen as a gesture of goodwill after both India and Pakistan offered support to Washington.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar welcomed the announcement, but noted that Mr Bush’s order did not include sanctions relating to the 1999 coup that brought Pakistan’s military ruler General Pervez Musharraf to power.