Lawmakers drawn from both the Senate and the House met at what is called a conference committee and cleared the Brownback-Robb Amendment which had already passed by the Senate.

The Amendment is to be voted again in both Houses, probably later in the week. But that passage is considered a mere formality after the conferees have passed it.

Under the Brownback-Robb Amendment, President Clinton will now have the authority to waive only some economic sanctions for a limited period of up to one year. But many other sanctions imposed on both countries prior to the May tests will remain in place.

The waiver amendment, which rode piggyback on the agriculture appropriations bill which deals with the budget for American farmers, is seen as the first step in a broad revision of US policy on economicsanctions.

The waiver will primarily benefit a Pakistani economy which is in great peril and US business interests, especially its grain exporters. Some help will also accrue to India by way of multilateral loan flows.

Washington is also using it as a carrot to entice New Delhi and Islamabad into signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Indian officials have said the move is only among the first of the many steps they expect Washington to take in it bid to re-engage New Delhi. India wants revocation of even broader embargoes going back to 1978, sanctions which have cut off crucial technologies for Indian nuclear power industry.