[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
[March 4, 2006]
[Pages 357-404]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following Discussions With President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan and an Exchange With Reporters in 
Islamabad, Pakistan
March 4, 2006

    President Musharraf. With your permission, Mr. President--ladies and 
gentlemen, it's indeed a great day. It's our honor, it's a proud 
privilege for Pakistan to receive President Bush, Mrs. Laura Bush, the 
First Lady, and such a large delegation from the United States. We are 
extremely glad that this has happened and the President is in our midst.
    In our discussions, first of all, I expressed Pakistan's deepest 
regrets on the very sad incident of the killing of a United States 
diplomat in Karachi. We know that it has been timed very viciously to 
vitiate the atmosphere during the President's visit, but I'm very glad 
and I'm extremely grateful to the President for showing understanding 
and showing also the resolve not to let such terrorist acts interfere in 
the normal process of our strategic cooperation.
    I also expressed Pakistan's gratitude to the President for the 
assistance that we got in the relief operations and the reconstruction 
activity of the earthquake in our hour of need. I don't think without 
the assistance of the Chinooks of United States and the medical teams, 
the hospitals, that we could have met the challenges of the relief 
operation in the earthquake. And we look forward to increased 
involvement--or sustained involvement of United States in assisting us 
in the reconstruction activity. So, our extreme gratitude to United 
States.
    Ladies and gentlemen, Pakistan and United States have always had a 
strategic partnership, a strategic relationships all along. Today with 
my interaction with the President, we have revived and maybe further 
strengthened this relationship. We have laid the foundations of a very 
strong, sustainable, broad-based, and a long-term relationship between 
Pakistan and United States. And this relationship includes, first of 
all, commencing our United States-Pakistan strategic dialog in an 
institutional manner, creating an institutional methodology of doing 
that, and talking of--within this, talking of trade and investment, 
talking of defense relationships, cooperation in education, and above 
all, cooperation in our fight against terrorism and extremism.
    I did express my gratitude to the President also for his efforts 
towards resolution of disputes in the region, to bring peace

[[Page 399]]

into the region, and a special reference to the resolution of the 
Kashmir dispute. I did request the President to remain involved in 
facilitating a resolution of all disputes including, obviously, the 
Kashmir dispute.
    Last of all, I did touch on the very thorny issue of the act, 
blasphemous act against our Prophet, peace be upon him. I did express 
the concerns of the Muslim world, in general, who condemn such acts and 
who reject the issue of justifying these acts in the name of freedom of 
press. May I say that the President did show concern, and I'm extremely 
grateful to him for showing concern toward the sentiments of the Muslim 
world.
    In the end, I would like to say that, again, that I look forward to 
an era of cooperation, of strategic relationships with you, with the 
United States. And may I add on a personal note, I look forward to 
sustaining this great friendship that I have developed with you, 
personally, Mr. President. Thank you very much again for coming to 
Pakistan and doing us this honor of hosting. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Mr. President, thank you. Laura and I are really glad to be here, and we want to thank 
you and Ms. Musharraf for your hospitality. 
We do have a good friendship. It was displayed last night when I got off 
Air Force One and your daughter was there to greet 
us. And that was a really kind gesture, and I thank you very much for 
that. I particularly thank your daughter for coming out.
    We've had a--we're going to have a full day. We've just had a 
lengthy one-on-one discussion about common interests. Then we invited 
members of our Government in to continue our discussion. I'll talk a 
little bit about the earthquake relief--I mean, the--yes, the earthquake 
relief in a minute. But I am looking forward to the meeting with a 
cross-section of Pakistani society, which will take place later on 
today, and I'm particularly interested in cricket. I understand you've 
lined up a little cricket exhibition for us, and maybe I'll take the 
bat, I don't know. We'll see. [Laughter] I'm kind of getting old these 
days.
    Mr. President and I reaffirmed our shared commitment to a broad and 
lasting strategic partnership. And that partnership begins with close 
cooperation in the war on terror. President Musharraf made a bold 
decision for his people and for peace, after September the 11th, when 
Pakistan chose to fight the terrorists. The American people appreciate 
your leadership, Mr. President, and so do I.
    Pakistan has captured or killed hundreds of Al Qaida terrorists. 
Pakistan has lost brave citizens in this fight. We're grateful to all 
who have given their lives in this vital cause. We honor the Pakistanis 
who continue to risk their lives to confront the terrorists. This week's 
bombing in Karachi shows again the war on terror goes on. America mourns 
the loss of all killed in the attack. We send our condolences to the 
family of David Foy, and we send our condolences, 
as well, to the families of the Pakistanis who lost their lives. We're 
not going to back down in the face of these killers. We'll fight this 
war, and we will win this war together.
    Pakistan is an important partner in fighting proliferation. Pakistan 
agreed to join the Container Security Initiative, an international 
effort to stop the spread of dangerous material shipments. And I thank 
you for that, Mr. President. We'll continue to work together to ensure 
that the world's most dangerous weapons do not end up in the hands of 
the terrorists.
    We support democracy in Pakistan. President Musharraf understands 
that in the long run, the way to defeat terrorists is to replace an 
ideology of hatred with an ideology of hope. And I thank you for your 
extensive briefing today on your plans to spread freedom throughout your 
country. President Musharraf envisions a modern state that provides an 
alternative to radicalism.

[[Page 400]]

    The elections scheduled for 2007 are a great opportunity for 
Pakistan. The President understands these elections need to be open and 
honest. America will continue to working with Pakistan to lay the 
foundations of democracy. And I appreciate your commitment.
    Pakistan and India now have an historic opportunity to work toward 
lasting peace. President Musharraf and Prime Minister Singh have shown themselves to be leaders of courage and 
vision. I was reflecting with the President how much the atmosphere has 
changed since I first became inaugurated as President. You think back to 
2001 and 2002, there was a lot of tension, a lot of concern. And yet the 
President has stood up and led the process toward better understanding, 
better exchanges with India. I encourage all sides to continue to make 
progress on important issues, including Kashmir.
    We're proud to help our Pakistani friends recover from the 
devastation of the earthquake. We just saw a film of the earthquake. It 
is staggering what the people of this country have been through. It is 
unbelievable how many people lost their lives, how many people have lost 
their homes. And we're proud to help. We're proud to help a great 
Pakistan military take the lead. We're proud to stand with the NGOs and 
those who deliver compassion as this country rebuilds. We stand by our 
commitment, our pledge of one-half billion dollars for recovery and 
reconstruction.
    We're cooperating to strengthen our economies. I congratulate the 
Government on its strong economic growth. We are in the process of 
working on a bilateral investment treaty that will encourage foreign 
investment and more opportunity for the people of Pakistan. We strongly 
support the President's vision of a reconstruction opportunity zone in 
remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This vision means that 
products manufactured in those zones would be eligible for duty-free 
entry into the United States. And so we're working to create such zones.
    Our idea is to continue to work with our strong friend and ally, 
work to keep the peace, to win the war on terror, to help the spread of 
democracy and freedom, and to encourage vital economic development.
    Finally, we look forward to continuing to work with the President on 
his vision to make sure that education is spread throughout this 
country, particularly for young girls. President Musharraf briefed us on 
his education plans today, and they're farsighted, and they're 
visionary. The United States looks forward to helping you, sir, 
implement that vision.
    All in all, it's an honor to be here. Thanks for your hospitality. 
I'm looking forward to taking some questions.

Kashmir/Pakistan-U.S. Relations

    Q. Thank you, President Musharraf.
    President Bush, in your address to the Asia Society, you talked 
about a strategic partnership with Pakistan, as did President Musharraf 
just now. And, of course, you just mentioned the bilateral investment 
treaty. Could you list some possible tangible milestones in forging this 
relationship and taking it forward? And also, on Kashmir, what are your 
perceptions on how this can be resolved, given that you've met both the 
leaders of Pakistan and India now? Thank you.
    President Bush. The best way for Kashmir to be resolved is for 
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, and that 
is to resolve this situation.
    Obviously, there needs to be some confidence in order for the 
countries to go forward, and therefore, the confidence-building measures 
that the governments have taken is beginning to bear fruits, in my 
judgment--increased trade, increased transportation. I thought it was 
interesting

[[Page 401]]

that the Indians sent supplies immediately upon the devastating natural 
disaster. In other words, things are--the atmosphere is changing.
    However, in order for a deal to get done, it requires commitment at 
the leadership level. And in my perspective, I've seen the commitment, 
and the role of the United States is to continue to encourage the 
parties to come together.
    The first part of the question was tangible evidence. Well, part of 
the tangible evidence of our relationship is a half-a-billion-dollars 
commitment to help this country rebuild; it's the $66 million last year 
to help implement the President's education initiative. It is the idea 
of developing reconstruction zones--I mean, trade zones in remote areas 
so that goods manufactured in those zones can get duty-free access to 
the United States, on the theory that economic vitality and economic 
prosperity for people in the remote regions of Pakistan will help defeat 
the terrorists and their hateful ideology.
    Sam Bodman is coming, our Secretary of 
Energy, to work with Pakistan on Pakistan's energy needs. There's a 
variety of things we can continue to cooperate on. Perhaps the most 
important one of all is to defeat these terrorists, some of whom are 
lodged here in Pakistan, some of whom have tried to kill your President. 
And close cooperation is needed to defeat them.
    Terry Hunt [Terence Hunt, Associated Press].

War on Terror

    Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, what would you like to 
see President Musharraf do in the war on terrorism that he's not doing 
now? Is the United States getting the access and the help that it needs 
to go after Al Qaida and Usama bin Laden?
    President Bush. There's a lot of work to be done in defeating Al 
Qaida. The President and I know that. We've spent a good while this 
morning talking about the work that needs to be done. The best way to 
defeat Al Qaida is to find--is to share good intelligence to locate them 
and then to be prepared to bring them to justice. So, one, the first 
question that I always ask is whether or not our intelligence sharing is 
good enough, and we're working on it to make sure it's good enough. 
Intelligence is gathered by--in a lot of different ways, but the key 
thing is that, one, it be actionable, and two, it be shared on a real-
time basis.
    Secondly, in order for Pakistan to defend herself from Al Qaida, she 
must have equipment necessary to move quickly, without tipping off the 
enemy. The President is training up special forces teams to do just 
that. And so while we do have a lot of work to be done, it's important 
that we stay on the hunt. 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. He understands the 
stakes; he understands the responsibility; and he understands the need 
to make sure our strategy is able to defeat the enemy.
    Do you want to say something to that?
    President Musharraf. May I add to this, with your permission--the 
first element that one needs to be very clear is the intentions. I think 
it's very clear that the intentions of Pakistan and my intentions are 
absolutely clear that we are a very strong--we have a strong partnership 
on the issue of fighting terrorism. So the intentions should be very 
clear.
    Then we need to strategize. We have strategized. We have strategized 
how to deal with terrorism, and then strategized also on how to deal 
with extremism, which is very different from terrorism. So we have 
strategized both. Then we need to come forward to the implementation 
part. Now, the implementation has to be strong also, with all the 
resolve. We are doing that also. So if at all there are slippages, it is 
possible in the implementation part. But as long as the intention is 
clear, the resolve is

[[Page 402]]

there, and the strategy is clear, we are moving forward toward to 
delivering, and we will succeed. That is what I think. Yes.

Energy/Pakistan-U.S. Relations

    Q. My question is to President Bush. President Bush, you've talked 
about a strategic relationship with Pakistan. You've also talked about 
helping Pakistan economically, and you just mentioned that the Energy 
Secretary is going to be visiting Pakistan. So Pakistan has some general 
energy needs, and in that respect, the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline 
seems to have hit some problems because of the opposition from the 
United States. So what are some specific options that you have to 
address Pakistan's energy concerns? And are you working on offering 
Pakistan a civilian nuclear deal? Thank you.
    President Bush. As I mentioned, Secretary of Energy Sam 
Bodman will be here to work with the 
Pakistan Government. Our beef with Iran is not the pipeline; our beef 
with Iran is the fact that they want to develop a nuclear weapon. And I 
believe a nuclear weapon in the hands of the Iranians would be very 
dangerous for all of us. It would endanger world peace. So we're working 
very hard to convince the Iranians to get rid of their nuclear 
ambitions.
    As to the civilian nuclear program, first of all, I understand--the 
President brought this issue up with me--that Pakistan has got energy 
needs because of a growing economy. And he explained to me the natural 
gas situation here in the country. We understand you need to get natural 
gas in the region, and that's fine.
    Secondly, we discussed a civilian nuclear program, and I explained 
that Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and 
different histories. So, as we proceed forward, our strategy will take 
in effect those well-known differences.
    Toby [Tabassum Zakaria, Reuters].

Democracy in Pakistan

    Q. Mr. President----
    President Bush. Which one?
    Q. Both of you can address this. Some critics----
    President Bush. Trying to get you a question. [Laughter]
    Q. Some critics say that Pakistan is not moving quickly enough on 
democratic reforms. And moves towards democracy has been one of the 
hallmarks of your administration. How do you respond to critics who say 
you are holding back on pressing President Musharraf on moves toward 
democracy because of its help in the war on terrorism? And I would also 
ask----
    President Bush. Well, we discussed--we spent a lot of time talking 
about democracy in Pakistan, and I believe democracy is Pakistan's 
future. And we share a strong commitment to democracy. I just mentioned 
in my opening address the idea of making sure the elections go forward 
in 2007, and I discussed that with the President. President Musharraf 
has made clear that he intends to hold elections--I'll let him speak for 
himself on this issue, but democracy has been definitely a part of our 
agenda here, as it should be.
    Secondly, one of the things that the President is constantly talking 
about is the ways to defeat extremism. We're talking about making sure 
that we work closely to bring the terrorists to justice, but in the long 
run, he understands that extremism can be defeated by freedom and 
democracy and prosperity and better education. And we spent a lot of 
time strategizing on that subject today.
    I'll let you speak for yourself on the subject, though, Mr. 
President.
    President Musharraf. Unfortunately, we are accused a lot on not 
moving forward on democracy. But as I understand democracy, we are a--
may I venture to tell you what we've done in line with democracy to 
introduce sustainable democracy in Pakistan. The first ingredient of 
democracy, I

[[Page 403]]

believe, is the empowerment of the people. We have empowered the people 
of Pakistan now--they were never empowered before--by introducing a 
local government system where we have given the destiny of their areas 
for development, for welfare, for progress in their own hands through 
financial, political, and administrative involvement.
    It also--democracy also means empowerment of women. It is the first 
time that we have empowered the women of Pakistan, by giving them a say 
in the political milieu of Pakistan. Today, there are over 30,000 women 
in the political hierarchy of Pakistan. We have empowered the minorities 
of Pakistan for the first time. They have got a joint election system, 
where previously they had a separate election system. Therefore, they 
have been mainstreamed in that every person standing for elections has 
to go to the minorities to ask for their votes now. Therefore, they feel 
more a part of the Pakistani culture and Pakistan society.
    Then we have empowered also--we have liberated the media and the 
press. If you see this press today sitting around here, and the media, 
previously there was only one Pakistan television. Today, there are 
dozens of channels. All these people sitting around are the result of my 
democratization of Pakistan, opening the Pakistan society of the media--
the print media and the electronic media, both. And they're totally 
liberated.
    And then, finally--obviously, this is to do with freedom of speech 
and freedom of expression. And then, finally, is the issue of their 
having the right to vote and elect their own people. And that is what we 
do. Today, the Senate, the National Assembly, the Provincial assemblies 
and the--of the local government is there. And they've been voted 
through absolute--franchise in a free and fair manner.
    So, therefore, may I say that we have introduced the essence of 
democracy now in Pakistan. It has been done now. It never--all these 
things never existed before. What maybe you are talking of is merely the 
label, which probably you are inferring on to my uniform. Indeed, and 
without saying that you are inferring to it, yes, indeed, that is an 
issue which needs to be addressed. And I will follow constitutional 
norms. Even now I am following constitutional norms where I have been 
allowed to wear this uniform until 2007--being in uniform as the 
President of Pakistan. Beyond 2007, yes, indeed, this is an issue which 
has to be addressed, and it has to be addressed according to the 
Constitution of Pakistan. And I will never violate the Constitution of 
Pakistan.
    So let me assure you that democracy will prevail. Sustainable 
democracy has been introduced in Pakistan and will prevail in Pakistan, 
especially beyond 2007. Long answer.
    President Bush. Yes. Good job--important answer.
    President Musharraf. Thank you very much.
    President Bush. Very good job. Thank you again, sir.

Note: The President spoke at 12:45 p.m. at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. In his 
remarks, he referred to Sehba Musharraf, wife, and Ayla Raza, daughter, 
of President Musharraf; David Foy, a U.S. State Department official who 
was killed in a terrorist attack in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 2; and 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India.

[[Page 404]]