Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Former US president George W Bush on Saturday backed India's claim for a seat in the UN Security Council (UNSC), but indicated that it's going to be a difficult process due to global politics.
Addressing a leadership summit on Saturday, Bush said: “We must see the possibility of a seat for India in the United Nations Security Council."
"India has arrived as a strong democratic country in the world. It is a tolerant, peaceful and multi-religious democracy," he said.
Bush, however, added that the process of getting India into the Security Council is going to be difficult due to the politics of change.
He stressed that before India's case is considered, fundamental questions about the nature of change and the future composition of the council need to be addressed.
"Should the UNSC be changed? Should there be regional considerations? Is Japan, the world's second largest economy, going to be there? How big should be the Security Council? It's going to be a complicated issue," he said.
"Once we get past these threshold questions, India's case will be seriously considered. We want India to be at the table," he said in response to a question.
Stating that India had an important role to play in global affairs, the former president said: "India has a leadership role in climate change, to cut greenhouse emissions without hindering economic growth."
Bush, who visited India in 2006 when the two sides chartered out the road map for further strengthening Indo-US strategic partnership, said he comes to India as a "pilgrim" and is an "admirer" of the country.
On Afghanistan
India and the US, the world's largest democracies, need to work together to win the battle against extremists in Afghanistan, former US president George W Bush said on Saturday.
Addressing a leadership summit on Saturday, Bush said: "The US and India should work together to win the war in Afghanistan.”
In a brief speech made before a select audience, Bush warned: "If the Taliban, al Qaeda and extremists are allowed to take over Afghanistan, they would have a safe haven again.”
On Terror attacks
India is a natural ally to the US in combating terror, he said.
"Both our nations are engaged in an ideological struggle against fundamentalists. They hate our lives, our vision for human rights... we should use our intelligence to find them, break up their network and bring them to justice," he said. The two countries sought "to advance our values of liberty, tolerance and hope".
The former US president stressed that the best way to combat terrorism would be to promote values of justice and liberty.
He said the US and India should have one of the best relationships in the world. "It is not going to happen immediately."
Better intelligence and Armies are the best way to tackle terrorism.
He further noted that Osama bin Laden is still alive and hiding.
On 26/11
Bush expressed his "deepest condolences" to the victims and the families who suffered in the Mumbai terror attack of November 2008 that left some 170 people dead, noting that the anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks was round the corner.
Like 9/11 in America, 26/11 served as a "moment of clarity" in India, he said.
He also referred to the terrorist assaults on the Indian Parliament and on the Indian embassy in Kabul.
Indo-US nuke deal
Bush has described the nuclear deal inked by Washington and New Delhi during his presidency as India’s passport to world. The nuclear deal will power India’s economy, Bush added.
Addressing a leadership summit on Saturday, Bush said the “historic” deal will help India acquire its rightful place in the world.
The accord will provide India an opportunity to get energy without making pollution, he added.
"(By signing the deal) the US recognised India's nuclear weapon's programme. It is India's passport to the world," said Bush.
"In 2006 we signed a historic accord.... India has now the opportunity to get energy without making pollution."
Bush, whose foreign policy during his eight-year tenure was marked by a firm belief in US unilateral power, said that India was the priority in his foreign policy.
On Trade
The former US president said that India was helping the world to recover from the world's financial crisis.
However, he urged the South Asian country to open up trade and investment.
On Indo-US ties
Turning on the charm offensive, Bush said that he had been looking forward to coming to India and "saying namaste".
"I am an old retired guy, so I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts with you," Bush said in his opening remarks at the summit.
India and the US “are united by our interests, our values... We share a great appreciation for your robust and free press", Bush said, adding that he feels honoured to be back in India.
He further said that America feels special kinship with India, describing the latter as a vibrant and modern nation.
India is "a tolerant, peaceful and multi-religious democracy" with a "dynamic middle class" and "a force for stability in one of the world's most strategic places", he said.
On ties with Pak
Amid concerns in India over continuing American aid to Pakistan, Bush said it was in New Delhi's interest that Washington has "a friendship" with Islamabad.
"It is in India's interest that the US has a friendship with Pakistan," Bush said.
He was responding to a question over the billions of dollars given to Pakistan by the US as aid which is suspected to have been used against building a war machinery against Indian interests.
On Manmohan Singh
I like your PM and proud to call him a friend, Bush said referring to Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
He further praised Dr Singh as a wise leader and a very good man.
Pointing out that both the US and India had held democratic elections this year, he congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress on their electoral victory.
He also hailed India for helping the world to recover from the world's financial crisis.
On Middle East
Recalling how one-time enemy Japan became an ally of the US, Bush expressed confidence that the Middle East would also go the same way one day.
"Sixty years ago, Japan was an enemy. It is now an ally of the US. Democracy proved to be transformative; an enemy had become an ally," he said.
The same thing is going to happen in the Middle East, he said about a region that recorded a surge of anti-Americanism during the Bush presidency.
"The Middle East too will one day become an ally," said Bush, who is reviled in the Muslim world for his invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.
World post-Saddam
Defending the war on Iraq that created much hostility against the US in the Muslim world, Bush said the world was "much better off without Saddam Hussein" and asked Muslims not to allow terrorists to hijack their religion.
"The world is much better off without Saddam Hussein. There is no question about that. Hussein was a threat to the US," Bush said at the summit.
He was responding to a question on whether he regretted his decision to invade Iraq in 2003 on grounds that Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction.
"He was a brutal dictator. He used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. He was not letting weapon inspectors in," he said.
"Regime change in Iraq was the official policy of the US much before I became the president," Bush said candidly, adding that as president he was forced to take the tough decision to invade Iraq for the cause of freeing Iraqi people from brutal tyranny.
Responding to a question about his unpopularity in the Muslim world, Bush said he would appeal to Muslims not to let "the propagandists hijack their religion to murder innocent people".
"Please don't let the propagandists tell the people that George Bush and America hate you," Bush said.
"I hate people who hijack a great religion to murder innocent people," he said.
On Immigration
The US should have rational immigration policies, Bush noted.
On Obama
Barack Obama's election as President of the US was an "uplifting moment", Bush said.
The election of Obama, a Democrat and the US' first African American President, "was an uplifting moment for our democracy... not my first choice, but I wish him every success", Bush said amid laughter at the summit.
Life after retirement
Amid much laughter from the audience, he said about his days since retiring as US president: "I suggested Laura take up cooking, she suggested I take up washing dishes."
He said he was using his free time to write a book. "I am giving a fair number of speeches and incredibly I get paid for it."
"Life has changed but some things haven't changed... like my respect for India," Bush added.
(With IANS inputs)
First Published: Sunday, November 01, 2009, 00:05