New Delhi
2 March 2006
United States President George W Bush on Thursday held forth on
the scourge of terrorism and virtues of democracy while nudging India and Pakistan to
work toward lasting peace.
"India and America both suffered from terrorist attacks on our home soil," Mr Bush said
at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the lawns of the
Mughal Garden at Hyderabad House.
Acknowledging India as a victim of terrorism, Mr Bush reiterated his country's resolve to
work with India in the short and the long term to fight the scourge. He also said the
Karachi bombings would not prevent him from going to Pakistan.
Five people, including an American diplomat and his Pakistani driver, were killed and
dozens wounded. Mr Bush will visit Pakistan on the second leg of his South Asia tour.
He will leave for Islamabad on Saturday.
"The way to defeat terrorism in the short run is to share intelligence and to take action.
The way to defeat terrorism in the long run is to defeat the ideology of hate with an
ideology of hope. And that's democracy.
"The great thing about ... India is it's a perfect opportunity to remind the
world that it is possible for people of different religions to live peacefully .... That's
precisely what [it] has shown the world," he observed.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in turn, said he admired President Bush for his "strong
position" on terrorism. "I was particularly pleased that we agreed on the need to root out
terrorism, of which India has been [a] victim," he said.
In response to a question on how he proposed to work with India in the war on terror, Mr
Bush said, "We're involved in a different kind of war. This is a war where people hide
and plot and plan and then all of a sudden emerge and kill.
"And so it requires a different response. And part of the response is to commit our
intelligence services to sharing information. We spent some time talking about that
issue today."
Stating that New Delhi and Washington "need to continue working together" against
terrorism, he asked India and Pakistan to work for peace. "I encourage them to continue
making progress on all issues, including Kashmir," he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment