WASHINGTON, Feb 10: President George W. Bush is going ahead with his trip to Pakistan in March despite widespread outrage in the Muslim world over sacrilegious caricatures [of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)], the White House said.

“The president looks forward to going to India. He looks forward to going to Pakistan,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan when asked if President Bush was considering cancelling his trip to Pakistan because of the violence over the sketches. “We are making arrangements for that trip, and that will be in a few weeks,” he added.

The spokesman’s comments came a day after thousands of protesters against the cartoons burned President Bush’s effigy in a remote tribal area of Pakistan.

The White House spokesman said that President Bush planned to visit India with a view to building on an improving relationship over the years. “He has a good relationship with Prime Minister Singh. We want to continue to build upon what has been an improving relationship over the course of the last few years,” Mr McClellan told journalists on Thursday.

“Historically, there have been some issues there... in the relationship between the US and India, but we’ve worked to change that and have close relations with India,” he added.

Asked to comment on India’s vote with the US at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last week, the spokesman avoided commenting on Indo-US negotiations on this issue. Instead, he only spokes about President Bush’s talks with other world leaders on the Iranian nuclear dispute.