There is now some danger that the ongoing dialogue between Washington and the two subcontinental neighbours -- initiated largely at the instance of President Clinton -- may lose momentum or even fizzle over altogether as the administration grapples with the crippling effect of the cascading sex scandal.

Interlocutors from India and the US have spend more than 30 hours spread over five meetings in a talkathon that is said to constitute the most intense and extensive exchange of views in the history of diplomatic relations between the two countries. They are said to have covered vast ground, whittling down differences in many areas, and are believed to be close to a breakthrough that could bring abouta seminal change in the relationship, although some areas of disagreement remain.

But the political crisis in Washington could stall everything. Just one example of how the current imbroglio in Washington is effecting diplomatic relations: Preparatory to signing the nuclear test ban treaty CTBT, New Delhi has been insisting, among other things, that the US reconsider its sanctions policy against India. Partly in response to this, the administration opened negotiations with Congress last week seeking blanket authority for the president to waive any sanctions, existing or future, in ``national interest.''

Undersecretary of State Stu Eizenstat, the administration's pointman to reexamine sanctions as a foreign policy tool, spoke to this issue before a senate panel on Thursday and is expected to testify before the House International Relations Committee on Friday. But lawmakers are now totally immersed in the debate over whether Ken Starr's report to the Congress constitutes grounds to impeach PresidentClinton. Sanction or nuclear proliferation, India or Pakistan is the last thing on anybody's mind.

This could bring many foreign policy initiatives to a grinding halt. Its unfortunate, but this relationship seems star-crossed. Every time we seem on the verge of a breakthrough, some political convulsion wrecks it. Last time, the strategic dialogue was interrupted by the fall of the United Front government and the elections, Prof Stephen Cohen, a South Asia scholar, said.

Although officials from both sides maintain that ties can hardly be derailed by political crises or change in government and leaders, they acknowledge that such convulsions do cause distractions and lead to loss of momentum.

In the case of India and Pakistan, President Clinton and the White House was taking direct interest in the negotiations. The President had appointed his friend and confidant Strobe Talbott to oversee the negotiations and Talbott was reporting directly to the President and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger.

Thedevelopments were also linked to the President's proposed visit to the region. But the visit, which was at one time, offered as a carrot to New Delhi, has lost its attractiveness because of the political scandal in Washington. It now looks inconceivable at this point of time that the White House could chart out the visit when the President is fighting for political survival in Washington.

The crisis in Washington will also arrest the hand of both Pakistan, which is on the verge of signing the test ban treaty after a four-day parliamentary debate on the issue, and India, which is waiting for the sanctions' waiver.

If the Congress, in its present sitting, does not give the President the sanctions waiver the administration is seeking, the matter will be in limbo for at least six months till after the November Congressional election and the new House is reconstituted. That means no immediate signing of the test ban treaty and no Clinton visit.

The institutional structures in both countries will ensure thatthe gains made by the dialogue are not lost, but the temporary incapacity will mean those who are against chance will have their way for now, Cohen said.