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US to use leverage with Pakistan on terrorism

President George W Bush on Thursday assured Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that the United States would use its "leverage" with Pakistan on the issue of terrorism.

In their second meeting in less than a year, Bush expressed concern over the killings in Jammu and Kashmir, especially of candidates in the assembly election, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal told reporters, briefing them on the 35-minute parleys.

Dismissing the excuse and distinction made between terrorism and freedom struggle, the president said if people were fighting for freedom, they should abide by its tenets.

The president referred to his address to the UN seeking international support to disarm Iraq. He stressed that the central message he gave was that the US wanted to work through the world body.

He wanted the UN to assume its role and responsibility and said his speech should not be seen as a declaration of military action against Iraq.

The president explained to Vajpayee America's perception of the problem in Iraq and how to deal with it.

Immediately after their meeting, National Security Advisor Brajesh Mishra and his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice discussed in detail the issues taken up by their leaders.

During the 90-minute meeting, Mishra brought up Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's anti-India tirade in his address to the UN General Assembly.

Mishra and Rice focussed on the bilateral agenda and wanted procedural hurdles in the high-tech trade and commerce to be removed.

They emphasised that political will was needed at the highest level for translating into action what had been agreed to between the two sides.

External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, Sibal and Mishra assisted Vajpayee during his talks with Bush.

The PM's US visit 2002: The Complete Coverage

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