Bush, Musharraf hold talks in Islamabad

US President George W Bush today held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf here after a colourful ceremony to welcome the American leader.

Bush, who arrived here last night following a three-day visit to India, held one-on-one talks with Musharraf at the President House here amid tight security.

The US President was received by Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz when he arrived in his limousine from the highly-guarded US embassy where he reportedly rested last night along with wife Laura Bush.

Bush was accorded the Guard of Honour by Presidential guards and personnel from all the three services. Helicopters hovered over and thousands of security personnel guarded empty streets.

After the welcome ceremony, both Bush and Musharraf held one-on-one talks followed by the delegation-level parleys covering a variety of issues, including the emerging close ties between India and US, specially the just-concluded high-profile visit of Bush to India during which the two countries finalised the civilian nuclear energy co-operation deal.

Pakistan has already said that it would seek similar arrangement from Bush as it also required nuclear energy for its growing economy. (PTI)