The daily 'Yomiuri Shimbun' said on Monday that Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori will tour India, Pakistan and Bangladesh late next month and announce the lifting of sanctions during the trip.

A Foreign Ministry official confirmed that Mori was considering a trip to the three countries, but said the report on lifting of the embargo was "groundless".

Japan froze fresh loans to India and Pakistan after the two countries carried out nuclear tests in May 1998, heightening fears of nuclear arms race in the troubled region and earning both countries international condemnation and sanctions.

Since then, Tokyo, the world's largest provider of foreign aid, has only offered minimal grant aid primarily for humanitarian purposes to India and Pakistan. It has also continued to provide project aid pledged before the tests.

Previously, Tokyo had made the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the countries a condition for the lifting the sanctions, the newspaper said.

Both countries are yet to sign the treaty, saying they are trying to evolve a national consensus on whether to do so.

The 'Yomiuri' said the government has decided to change that policy and remove the embargo because the two countries had not carried out new tests for nearly two years.


(c) Reuters Limited. Click for Restrictions