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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Mar 05 (CNN): Pakistan won't receive U.S. help for its civilian nuclear power program as India did, President Bush said Saturday before departing Islamabad.
"We discussed a civilian nuclear program, and I explained that Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories," Bush said at a news conference with President Pervez Musharraf. "So, as we proceed forward, our strategy will take in effect those well-known differences."
Under the U.S.-India nuclear deal announced Thursday, India pledged to open its 14 civilian nuclear reactors to international inspectors and keep power generation separate from its military program.
Traveling with Bush, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said, "there are a lot of technological ways to pursue [Pakistan's] energy needs, but civil nuclear just isn't possible."
Bush and Musharraf discussed issues ranging from its dispute with India about the territory of Kashmir to democratic reform. But U.S. efforts to stem terrorism were front and center on the agenda.
Bush said part of his mission was to determine whether Musharraf "is as committed as he has been in the past to bringing these terrorists to justice -- and he is."
"He understands the stakes, he understands the responsibility and he understands the need to make sure our strategy is able to defeat the enemy," Bush said.
Musharraf said the United States and Pakistan have a "strong partnership on the issue of fighting terrorism," and he vowed that his country continues to pursue al Qaeda.
"As long as the intention is clear, the resolve is there and the strategy is clear, we are moving forward towards delivering," Musharraf said. "We will succeed."
Bush and Musharraf met just two days after a U.S. diplomat and three other people were killed in a terrorist bombing outside the U.S. consulate in Karachi.
Musharraf said he offered Bush "Pakistan's deepest regrets of the very sad incident of the killing of a United States diplomat."
"We know that it has been timed very viciously," he said.
To strengthen anti-terrorism efforts, Bush said intelligence-sharing must improve, with real-time and "actionable" information exchanged.
Musharraf, an army general who assumed power during a bloodless coup in 1999, gave a staunch defense of democratic reform in Pakistan, saying "sustainable democracy" has been introduced and that more power than ever is in the hands of the public.
He defended his dual political and military role, saying he will wear "this uniform" through 2007 as spelled out in the Pakistani Constitution.
"Let me assure you that democracy will prevail."
Bush said elections in 2007 provide a "great opportunity" for Pakistan to demonstrate to the world its commitment to democratic reform.
"The president understands these elections need to be open and honest," Bush said. "I believe democracy is Pakistan's future."
Musharraf said he has done more than any of his predecessors to lead democratic reforms, that women and minorities are involved more than ever in government and that the news media has gained widespread freedom.
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