Bush Welcomes India but Rejects Pakistan

[Neil D]

By Erkan Yigitsozlu, Cihan News Agency, Islamabad

Published: Sunday, March 05, 2006

The US President George W. Bush went to Pakistan in the frame of his South Asia visit but did not give the nuclear privilege he gave to India to Pakistan.

Bush, who made an agreement on nuclear collaboration with New Delhi and reached a consensus on Exchange of technology, said: “Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories.'' Being one of the key allies of the US for struggling against terrorism, Pakistan has some nuclear image problems in the world after confessing that Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is accepted as the entrepreneur for nuclear weapons in Pakistan, sold Pakistan’s nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. In the joint press conference after meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Bush praised Pakistan’s struggle against terror but added Pakistan needs to struggle more. The US President wanted the elections in Pakistan in 2007 to be free and honest.

The authorities comment on Bush’s visit as it will be some relief to Musharraf, who had been experiencing hard days due to the cartoon crisis, opposition and the armed tension in the north of the country. There were strict security measurements in Islamabad while Bush was visiting. Public transportation was stopped in the city, and schools and shopping centers were closed. Domestic flights were also cancelled during Bush’s visit.

[:"blue"] Ok, anyone want ot guess how this is gonna affect relationships with Pakistan? Today, Pakistan forces engaged with some Taliban, but will they get Osama now???? How would you feel if your enemy/neighbor was able to get neuclear technology and you were not? Would you preform better for the world's only super power and get Osama if you too can get neuclear technology? [/]

[Neil D]

Bush ‘rules out’ civilian nuclear technology for Pakistan

5 March 2006

ISLAMABAD — Apparently ruling out the possibility of extending civilian nuclear technology to Pakistan like that of India, US President George Bush said on Friday that Pakistan and India are “different countries, have different needs and different histories”.

Khalee Times Online

[Dr. Shane]

Sounds like the President is doing pretty good. Was this to be a critism of him or a pat on the back?

[Neil D]

Actually, neither...I forsee this as Pakistan complaining that we are favoring thier enemy, and then I see them possibly delaying thier campaign against the Taliban, and then I see that the Taliban befriending them, and then I see the Teliban setting up training camps and then I see....well, you get the picture...

[Dr. Shane]

There are a lot of varibles at play. In some situations there is no one right answer and one has to reason which is the best way to procede.

[Gerr]

The reason looks very simple to me. India is a stable democracy. Their policies do not radically change with changes in leadership. Pakistan is essentially a dictatorship. If Musharraf gets toppled, an Islamic state may emerge that would be antagonistic towards the USA, and then all that nuclear technology could be used against us.

Gerry

[Neil D]

Gerry,

India and Paskistan really dislike each other...They recently nearly came to blows over Cashmere, which sits on the border of those two countrys, each claiming Cashmere as thier providence and the other wanting to attach the other for harboring rebels. Each country currently has nukes and maybe you remember that there was talk of them using the nukes if one of them faulters....

That region is very unstable, regardless of the countries.

[Gerr]

The India-Pakistan relationship may be unstable, but India IS a stable country.

Gerry