Bush Meets With Prime Minister Gilani of Pakistan

Bush, Gilani Hold a Media Availability

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Mr. Prime Minister, welcome. It's been a -- it's been a very constructive morning.

PRIME MINISTER SYED YOUSUF RAZA GILANI OF PAKISTAN: Thank you.

BUSH: We've had a good meeting in the Oval Office. And then I'm going to have lunch with the prime minister here in the main White House. And that's fitting. After all, Pakistan is a strong ally and a vibrant democracy, and the United States supports the democracy and supports the sovereignty of Pakistan.

We talked about areas of concern. Of course, we're going to spend a lot of time on the economy, about how the United States and Pakistan can continue to cooperate for economic benefits for all the people, of Pakistan and for our own country, for that matter.

And of course we talked about the common threat we face, extremists who -- who are very dangerous people. We talked about the need for us to, you know, make sure that, you know, Afghan border is secure as best as possible. Pakistan's made a very strong commitment to that.

I told the prime minister that the United States is committed to helping the Afghan democracy succeed, which is in Pakistan's interest. After all, the prime minister wants there to be a peaceful country on his border.

(inaudible), I repeat, respects the sovereignty of this democracy. And we also appreciate the prime minister's strong words against the extremists and terrorists who not only would do us harm, but have harmed people inside Pakistan.

So we welcome you, here, Mr. Prime Minister. And I'm looking forward to having a good lunch with you after -- after your statement.

GILANI: Thank you so much.

(inaudible)

BUSH: Please, yes, absolutely.

GILANI: First of all, I want to thank Mr. President Bush for inviting me to United States. And this is my second meeting with the president. Previously, I met Mr. President in Sharm el-Sheikh, and today again I'm meeting Mr. President.

And I appreciate what he has said about supporting democracy, supporting sovereignty, looking after the interests -- and in a lot of other areas, there is a cooperation between us. We are -- Pakistan and the United States have very cordial relations, and bilateral relations, and this is not of today. This is for over 60 years, since the creation of Pakistan.

We were inspired with their slogan of liberty and self- determination, and now we want to further improve our relations.

We are committed to fight against those extremists and terrorists who are destroying and making the world not safe. And that is -- this is our own war. This is a war which is against Pakistan, and we'll fight for our own cause.

And that is because I have lost my own leader, Benazir Bhutto, because of the militants. And, therefore, I assure the United States and the people of the United States that the majority of the people of Pakistan and the people of those areas in NWFP and FATA -- they are the patriots, the loyalists. They want peace in the world. And they want to cooperate.

And there are few militants -- there are hand-picked people, militants who are disturbing this peace. And I assure Mr. President we'll work together for democracy and for the prosperity and peace of the world.

Thank you very much.

BUSH: Thank you, sir. Thanks.

Thank you all.

END