US President George W. Bush expressed support today with Pakistani President Perez Musharraf's war-on-terror alliance with the United States, a stance that is at odds with many in the Islamic nation.
"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," Mr Bush said at a joint news conference with Musharraf in Islamabad.
But Mr Bush gave no sign today that he would support granting Pakistan the same kind of nuclear agreement just reached with India.
The subject came up in private talks between Mr Bush and President Musharraf.
The pact, announced on Thursday, marks a major breakthrough for New Delhi, long treated as a nuclear pariah by the world, as it allows it to access American atomic technology and fuel to meet its soaring energy needs.
The deal still needs approval by the US Congress. Asked at a joint news conference if Pakistan, India's nuclear rival, would get a similar deal, Mr Bush was ambiguous.
Other US officials have said it would not happen. Mr Bush said he and Musharraf discussed it and "I explained that Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories" and these differences would be taken into account as the strategy moved forward.
Mr Bush said he recognised Pakistan had growing energy needs. Asked if the United States would oppose a natural gas pipeline to Iran, Bush did not say no.
"Our beef with Iran is not the pipeline. Our beef with Iran is the fact that they want to develop a nuclear weapon," Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush said General Musharraf brought this issue up with him. "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," Mr Bush said.
Under the nuclear deal, India agreed to separate its military and civilian nuclear plants and open the latter to international inspections to prevent proliferation.
US officials have said the United States will not be concluding a similar deal with Pakistan, which is still under a cloud because of the role of its top atom scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, in a nuclear proliferation scandal