Rep. Frank Pallone, India's staunch ally on Capitol Hill, has taken the Bush administration to task for its continuing delay in lifting sanctions against India.

The sanctions were imposed in the wake of nuclear tests conducted by India in May 1998 at Pokhran.

Expressing concern at the lack of progress in lifting sanctions, the New Jersey lawmaker has written a complaint to President George W. Bush urging him to look into the matter and take necessary action.

In his missive, Pallone, founder and former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said top administration officials had promised a gradual lifting of all sanctions against India over a period of six months, but thus far had not lifted any.

Pallone informed Bush that officials of his administration had promised members of the bipartisan India Caucus as early as May that the remaining sanctions, as well as the entities list, would be lifted over six months.

"I would like to take this opportunity to express to you my concerns regarding the lack of progression on lifting U.S. sanctions imposed against India. I am concerned because the six-month period is well under way and there has been no progress, to my knowledge, in eliminating the remaining sanctions and the entities list."

Pallone has long supported lifting of all sanctions against India. Earlier this
year, he asked Bush to standby his campaign promise to lift all sanctions against India, and to do so immediately after taking office.

At the time, Pallone said sanctions hurt economic relations between the U.S. and
India, as well as political and diplomatic relations between the two nations.

In his letter Tuesday, Pallone said the U.S. could begin to strengthen U.S.-India relations by initiating the lifting of sanctions in time for a critical visit to India scheduled later this month by General Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

During his visit to India, Shelton is scheduled to reopen high-level military dialogue, which was suspended back in 1998 after the Pokhran nuclear explosions.

Pallone said: "In anticipation of his visit to India in July, it is now more important than ever to initiate progress and lift sanctions against India."

The lawmaker said recently, Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute, argued it would be in the U.S.' favor to immediately lift the sanctions in order to send a strong message of economic cooperation with India and secure a defense partnership with India before other powers like Russia and China try to step in.

"I agree with Mr. Carpenter's argument. In addition, the Center for Strategic and International Studies recently published a report urging a strong relationship between the U.S. and India as a strategy for promoting security in the South Asian region."

Pallone said Bush should not listen to several voices in his administration that have, in recent weeks according to press reports, opposed eliminating both the sanctions and the entities list.

One of those administration officials, Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation, Robert Einhorn, Pallone said, argued that sanctions should not be lifted until India clarifies its nuclear agenda, in particular, an explanation of its minimum credible nuclear deterrent.

"It is unclear to me why this individual in your administration is holding up progress on this issue when other top officials understand that lifting sanctions is the only avenue to ensure security in the South Asian region," Pallone said.

"Mr. Einhorn's request for a quid pro quo from New Delhi at this time is unnecessary, given the numerous submissions already offered by India."

Pallone encouraged Bush to "review Mr. Einhorn's arguments and counteract them with actions to lift the sanctions against India and eliminate the entities list".