Bush's Speech in India, Extract

Sources: US State gov

President Discusses Strong U.S.-India Partnership in New Delhi, India

President George W. Bush

Purana Qila

New Delhi, India

March 3, 2006

Released by the White House Office of the Press Secretary

6:42 P.M. (Local)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. Please be seated. Distinguished guests, namaste. (Applause.) Laura and I have been looking forward to this visit for a long time, and we're delighted to be in India.

The world has benefitted from the example of India's democracy, and now the world needs India's leadership in freedom's cause. As a global power, India has an historic duty to support democracy around the world. In Afghanistan, which I just visited on Wednesday, the world is beginning to see what India's leadership can accomplish. Since the Taliban was removed from power, India has pledged $565 million to help the Afghan people to get back on their feet. Your country has trained National Assembly staff, and developing a similar program for the Assembly's elected leaders. You recently announced that you'll provide an additional $50 million to help the Afghans complete their National Assembly building. After so many years of suffering, the Afghan people are reclaiming a future of hope and freedom, and they will always remember that in their hour of need, India stood with them. (Applause.)

India is also showing its leadership in the cause of democracy by co-founding the Global Democracy Initiative. Prime Minister Singh and I were proud to be the first two contributors to this initiative to promote democracy and development across the world. Now India can build on this commitment by working directly with nations where democracy is just beginning to emerge. As the world's young democracies take shape, India offers a compelling example of how to preserve a country's unique culture and history while guaranteeing the universal freedoms that are the foundation of genuine democracies.

India's leadership is needed in a world that is hungry for freedom. Men and women from North Korea to Burma to Syria to Zimbabwe to Cuba yearn for their liberty. In Iran, a proud people is held hostage by a small clerical elite that denies basic liberties, sponsors terrorism, and pursues nuclear weapons. Our nations must not pretend that the people of these countries prefer their own enslavement. We must stand with reformers and dissidents and civil society organizations, and hasten the day when the people of these nations can determine their own future and choose their own leaders. These people may not gain their liberty overnight, but history is on their side. (Applause.)