India- Pakistan peace efforts commendable, nukes secure: Bush
(Updated at 0530 PST)
CRAWFORD, Texas: US President George W. Bush said Thursday that India and Pakistan seemed to be resolving long-standing disputes “slowly but surely” and expressed confidence in Islamabad’s efforts against extremists, reports a news agency.
“I commend the leaders of both countries for taking steps toward a peaceful reconciliation of major issues that have divided them,” he said. “It looks like they’re making progress towards reconciling differences, slowly but surely.” The two nuclear rivals have undertaken a series of tie-mending moves since April and took another step closer to normal relations Thursday by resuming commercial flights after a two-year ban. The flights resumed three days before Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was due to make his first visit to Pakistan in four years for a seven-nation South Asian leader summit. “We’re hopeful that the Indians’ and Pakistanis’ upcoming meetings will be able to begin a dialogue on a variety of issues,” said Bush.
Speaking to reporters after hunting quail near the Texas town of Falfurrias, Bush also said that he had spoken by telephone with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who survived two assassination attempts in December. “Obviously terrorists are after him and he sounded very confident that his security forces would be able to deal with the threat,” Bush said. “He sounded confident and therefore I feel confident about his security situation.” Musharraf, who appointed himself to the presidency in June 2001 after toppling an elected government in a bloodless army coup in 1999, has escaped two near-miss assassination attempts in the past three weeks. He claimed a mandate for another five years in a flawed May 2002 referendum. In response to a reporter’s question, Bush said he believed that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons “are secure and that’s important.
It’s also important that India as well have a secure nuclear weapons program.” Bush also praised Musharraf generally for his help in the war on terrorism, launched after members of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. “President Musharraf has been a friend of the United States. He’s been a stand-up guy when it comes to dealing with the terrorists,” said Bush.
“We are making progress against al-Qaeda because of his cooperation. We need to do more, particularly on the Pakistan-Afghan border,” he said.
Bush says he’s “confident” in Musharraf
(Updated at 0510 PST)
FARFULLIAS, Texas: US President George W. Bush said Thursday that he trusted in Pakistan’s ability to crack down on extremists who have twice tried to kill President Pervez Musharraf.
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