The verbatim transcripts, released this week by the National Security Archive following a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, cover meetings and calls from 2001 to 2008. They show Putin bluntly warning Bush during their first face-to-face encounter on June 16, 2001, in Slovenia: Pakistan was “just a junta with nuclear weapons” and “no democracy,” yet the West remained silent. “Should talk about it,” Putin urged.
Bush did not push back, and the leaders repeatedly voiced fears that instability could allow nuclear technology to slip into dangerous hands. By 2005, in an Oval Office discussion on Iran and North Korea, Putin raised alarms over Pakistani-origin uranium found in Iranian centrifuges. “That makes me nervous,” he said. Bush replied, “It makes us nervous, too.”
The exchanges centered on the A.Q. Khan network, the Pakistani scientist who ran a clandestine proliferation ring supplying centrifuge technology to Iran, Libya, and North Korea. Bush expressed frustration with then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf’s handling of Khan’s house arrest, questioning whether Islamabad was fully disclosing interrogations.
These revelations come against the backdrop of post-9/11 U.S.-Russia counter-terrorism cooperation, even as both privately distrusted Pakistan’s command-and-control systems amid Musharraf’s military regime.
For India, the transcripts validate longstanding apprehensions. New Delhi has consistently highlighted Pakistan’s proliferation record, including the Khan network’s role in illicit transfers.
In May 2025, following a brief but intense military clash—triggered by a deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam and India’s retaliatory Operation Sindoor—Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called Pakistan “irresponsible” and demanded its nuclear weapons be placed under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision. “Are nuclear weapons safe in the hands of such a rogue nation?” he asked troops in Srinagar.
The four-day May conflict, the most serious since 1971, ended in a ceasefire but underscored enduring risks. Pakistan condemned Singh’s remarks as ignorant of IAEA mandates.
The A.Q. Khan saga remains a benchmark for proliferation concerns. Khan, dubbed the father of Pakistan’s bomb, confessed in 2004 to selling secrets abroad but faced only house arrest before his death.
Early Bush-Putin rapport—Bush famously said he “looked into Putin’s soul” and found him trustworthy—faded amid later disputes over Iraq and NATO. Yet their shared unease over Pakistan endured, highlighting a rare alignment on South Asian nuclear perils.
As global powers navigate rising tensions, these documents serve as a reminder: unchecked proliferation in unstable hands poses threats far beyond regional rivalries.
