Washington decides not to list Pakistan as a sponsor of terrorism

From 1992 the George H. W. Bush administration pressed Pakistan over support for militant groups operating in Indian Kashmir and Punjab. Secretary of State James Baker wrote to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif warning of the consequences, and Pakistan was placed under review for possible addition to the list of state sponsors of terrorism, which would have brought sweeping sanctions^1,2.

In July 1993, under the Clinton administration, the State Department announced that the evidence then available led it to judge that Pakistan should not be designated. Secretary of State Warren Christopher concluded that Pakistan’s policy of ending official support for terrorists in India appeared to be being implemented on the ground, while describing the question as close and difficult and saying the United States would continue to monitor developments². The decision followed a change of government in Pakistan, where Sharif had been removed from office earlier in the year.

Members of Congress critical of Pakistan continued to press the issue in the following years, introducing resolutions and debating Pakistan’s support for militancy^3,4. Pakistani officials maintained that their support for Kashmiris was political and moral, not military. The episode marked the first time terrorism, rather than nuclear proliferation, threatened to define the relationship - a theme that would grow in importance after 2001.