ISLAMABAD, 5 March 2006 — US President George W. Bush yesterday said he found Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf committed to war on terrorism, but that more needed to be done.
“Part of my mission today was to determine whether or not the president is as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice, and he is,” Bush told a news conference with Musharraf by his side at Aiwan-e-Sadr presidential palace.
“He understands the stakes, he understands the responsibility, and he understands the need to make sure our strategy is able to defeat the enemy,” said Bush, who arrived Friday from India on the last leg of a South Asian tour.
Musharraf said his intention to defeat terrorism was clear but “if at all there are slippages” in the effort, it was in the implementation of their joint strategy.
Hours after Bush flew out of the country, an army spokesman said the military killed 46 militants after pro-Taleban tribesmen attacked security forces near the Afghan border, killing three soldiers.
At the press briefing, Bush said the best way to resolve the Kashmir dispute would be for the leaders of Pakistan and India to negotiate a settlement over the future of the Himalayan region. Pakistan has sought more US involvement in the issue. But Bush gave no indication that Washington was ready to do that. He said it would be better if Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh brokered a deal.
“The best way for Kashmir to be resolved is for the leaders of both countries to step up and lead, and that’s exactly what President Musharraf has done, and that’s what Prime Minister Singh has assured me he wants to do,” Bush said.
Bush said confidence-building measures were needed, and Pakistan and India had recently been doing things that help cooperation. He said such measures include increasing trade and transportation links. “The role of the United States is to continue to encourage the parties to come together,” Bush said.
Bush also gave Pakistan no public assurances that Washington would seek to give it the same nuclear assistance it wants to provide India. Bush came to Pakistan after signing a landmark deal to supply nuclear reactors, technology and other material to India in exchange for New Delhi’s acceptance of international safeguards. Pakistan wants a similar deal, but Bush gave no signs that he was ready to help the country’s nuclear program. “Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories,” Bush said. “As we proceed forward, our strategy will take in those well-known differences.”
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said Pakistan also demanded a civilian nuclear cooperation deal. But he said it may take some time for a nuclear deal between the nations.
But the US president said Washington had no problem with Iran supplying natural gas to Pakistan. “Our beef with Iran is not the pipeline,” he said. “Our beef with Iran is the fact that they want to develop nuclear weapons. I believe a nuclear weapon in the hands of the Iranians would be very dangerous for all of us. It would endanger world peace.”
Bush said that his secretary of energy would visit Pakistan to help the country meet its energy demands.
— Additional input from agencies
