Japan is considering lifting economic sanctions on Pakistan and India, with a view to helping the two nations better deal with increasing instability due to the continued military strikes in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka told a news conference Friday morning that the government is "considering the matter (of resuming aid to Pakistan) from various points of view."

Japan has frozen new grants and loans, except for humanitarian aid, to Pakistan since the country conducted nuclear tests in 1998. Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi earlier this week to lift the overall sanction.

Tanaka said the Cabinet will discuss the matter more thoroughly before making a final decision.

Later Friday, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura hinted that the government may also lift sanctions on India, hopefully before an expected visit by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to the country.

The idea of having Mori, who is said to have personal connections with some Indian officials, travel to India was conceived by officials within the Liberal Democratic Party. Mori has already accepted the request, though dates and his visiting status have yet to be decided.

When asked whether the government will lift the sanctions on India and Pakistan before Mori's trip, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told a regular news conference, "I think we can lift them if the situation permits."

A senior Foreign Ministry official said the ministry is considering lifting economic sanctions on both nations simultaneously, or at least as close together as possible.

The government also decided Friday to provide 500 more tents for Afghan refugees in Pakistan through the office of U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, in addition to relief supplies sent earlier this month to Pakistan.

The tents will be procured locally and delivered to a local UNHCR office on or around Thursday. On Oct. 9, Japan delivered 200 blankets, 315 tents, 400 water tanks and 75 plastic sheets to the UNHCR office in Islamabad.

Six Air Self-Defense Force planes carried the first delivery of goods, taking three days to reach Islamabad with refueling stops.

Meanwhile, a source at the Prime Minister's Official Residence said Friday that the government will soon dispatch LDP Lower House member Nariaki Nakayama to Uzbekistan before Tokyo unveils its economic assistance plan for that country.

Nakayama, whose wife Kyoko is Japan's ambassador to Uzbekistan, will discuss the repercussions of the U.S.-led attacks in Afghanistan with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, the source said.