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By Sridhar Krishnaswami
WASHINGTON, DEC. 4. The Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, says he is "very optimistic" about the dialogue process with India and that the two countries are "moving well" on a number of issues, including confidence-building. "We are moving well on the issue of confidence-building measures and also the dialogue process towards the resolution of disputes. We hope that we will move forward on the resolution of all disputes, and the core dispute which happens to be Kashmir. And we are moving forward on that. We are hopeful and we are very optimistic of the future," Gen. Musharraf told reporters after his meeting with the United States President, George W. Bush, at the White House here. Mr. Bush said he and Gen. Musharraf touched on a range of issues including relations between India and Pakistan. "We reviewed the relationship between India and Pakistan. He has showed great courage in that relationship leading towards what we hope will be a peaceful solution of what has been a historically difficult problem," Mr. Bush told reporters after a rare Saturday morning meeting with Gen. Musharraf.
Sale of F-16s
Asked if the subject of F-16s did come up at the meeting, Gen. Musharraf said: "We discussed the issue and that is all I would like to say." There have been persistent reports of Pakistan keenly looking at the F-16s even as the Bush administration has said that while this may be on the table, no final decision has been made. One of the top items on the agenda is the issue of Osama bin Laden with some in the U.S. administration not quite happy that Islamabad has militarily scaled back the hunt on the border areas with Afghanistan. Gen. Musharraf acknowledged that this subject did come up in the discussions but in an overall framework. "Of course, we discussed terrorism in its entire complexity and within that hunting every terrorist was discussed. The operations against terrorists on our borders was discussed," Gen. Musharraf said. He pointed out that in the 30-40 minutes meeting with Mr. Bush it was not possible to get into the details of tactical issues and problems. "Of course, we discussed the issue of... fighting terrorism. In all its complexity," he said. Gen. Musharraf said he had come to Washington to congratulate Mr. Bush on his election win and the opportunity to discuss all issues — international, "regional from Pakistan's point of view" and Pakistan-United States bilateral relationship. "On the whole, I think it was a very wholesome meeting. I think it was an extremely positive meeting. And there is total consonance of views on all issues," Gen. Musharraf said.
Palestinian issue
Both Mr. Bush and Gen. Musharraf at different times have stressed that the Palestinian issue was brought up and discussed. "I assured President Musharraf that there is an opportunity at hand to work toward the development of a Palestinian state and peace in the Middle East. I told him this will be a priority of my administration. The goal is two states living side by side in peace and security," Mr. Bush said in the joint media availability. "... As far as Pakistan is concerned we are very clear that we believe in the right of the Palestinians and Israelis to have their own states. Within that whatever I can do I will contribute but I am very glad to say that President Bush is absolutely concerned and he thinks that it's a priority with him to resolve the Palestinian dispute and create a Palestinian state," Gen. Musharraf said.
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