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What Was The Brown Amendment?

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Hassan Raza answered
The amendment was presented in the US Congress by Senator Hank Brown, hereafter referred to as the Brown Amendment. This amendment did not reverse the Pressler Amendment but provided some relaxation of the rules. The main features were:

Assistance to Pakistan was to be provided in economic and humanitarian fields. Aid was to be given for the functioning of NGOs, narcotics control, antiterrorism, peacekeeping forces and development of technology. Some military aid would be released to Pakistan, except the F-16s.

A resolution referred to as the 'Sense of Congress' was passed, under which the President was allowed to sell the F-16s to a third party and Pakistan was to be reimbursed its costs.
Storage costs of the embargoed equipment would be waived.

The Brown Amendment was passed by a unanimous vote both in the US Senate and the House of Representatives. Indian opposition to the Brown Amendment was clear, and it warned Pakistan that it would enhance its military capabilities because of renewed aid to Pakistan. The Brown Amendment is in practical terms a one time temporary relief from the Pressler Amendment. The Pressler Amendment damaged Pakistan-US relations to a great extent and necessitated the need for Pakistan to develop its own strategic defense needs.

The Brown Amendment was based on the assumption that, in spite of the Pressler Amendment, Pakistan's nuclear program was still intact. Any concessions that are made to Pakistan are based on the realization by the USA that Pakistan can function as a back door to the Gulf regions and as a direct entrance to the CARs.

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