U.S. May Clear Path for Aid to Pakistan

The Reagan Administration, in an effort to open the way for new foreign aid to Pakistan, will soon certify to Congress that the strategically placed nation does not possess any nuclear weapons, Administration sources said Friday.

The formal certification is expected to be issued within the next two weeks, as Congress prepares for a vote next month on whether to approve a six-year, $4-billion foreign aid program for Pakistan.

Pakistan has denied that it is proceeding with a nuclear weapons development program, although it admits having a nuclear energy program. But the reports of nuclear bomb development persist. They are fueled, for instance, by the boasts of Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist, Abdel Qader Khan, that Pakistan has the know-how to enrich uranium to weapons-grade level.

‘No Way to Confirm’

Still, one Administration official said Friday that “there’s no way we can confirm (that Pakistan has nuclear weapons). . . . There may have been some testing that they’ve gone through, but this doesn’t mean they have a nuclear device.”

The vote in Congress shapes up as a test of wills between members who want the United States to take the strongest possible action to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and others who argue that it is more important to secure Pakistan’s continuing support for the guerrilla forces fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Pakistan serves as a base for the Afghan moujahedeen guerrillas.

Among members of Congress calling for restrictions on American aid to Pakistan is Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), who argues that Pakistan, for reasons of its own self-interest, will continue to support the Afghan guerrillas whether it receives U.S. aid or not.

“Congress has every reason to be deeply concerned about Pakistan’s nuclear program, which continues on the path of nuclear weapons development,” said Cranston through a spokesman Friday.

‘Not In U.S. Interests’

“I believe it is unwise for the Administration to resist some of the restraints suggested by Congress. A Pakistani bomb is not in the national interest of the United States, and we should not turn a blind eye to this development by extending another $4 billion in U.S. taxpayers’ money to support Pakistan’s military.”

The foreign aid program for Pakistan proposed by the Administration would extend over a six-year period. An earlier U.S. aid program of $3.2 billion, which extended from 1981 to 1987, ran out last Sept. 30, at the end of the fiscal year.

Congressional critics note that the foreign aid program for Pakistan is the largest in the world except for the U.S. aid to two North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies, Greece and Turkey, and to the two signers of the Camp David accords, Israel and Egypt.

A 1977 nuclear non-proliferation law called the Symington amendment, authored by former Sen. Stuart H. Symington (D-Mo.), requires the United States to cut off aid to any country that imports enriched uranium for facilities that are not under international safeguards.

Aid Stopped in 1981

As a result of this law, the Jimmy Carter Administration cut off aid to Pakistan. But in 1981, the Reagan Administration obtained a special six-year waiver from Congress permitting a resumption of the aid program through last September.

Since that time, U.S. aid to Pakistan has been frozen while the Administration waits for Congress to pass a new foreign aid bill. The Administration would like congressional approval for another six-year waiver of the requirements of the Symington amendment.

Both Administration and congressional sources said there have been differences within the intelligence community over how far Pakistan’s nuclear program has gone.