Search the Internet          Tips

Bush speaks to Vajpayee, Musharraf; discusses Indo-Pak tensions

French President Jacques Chirac also called up the prime minister and was briefed on the measures taken by India, which included reduction of diplomatic missions and stopping over flight facilities to Pakistani aircraft.

Both leaders are understood to have urged restraint on the part of India and Pakistan to defuse the tension in the region.

US President George Bush held a 20-minute telephone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf on Saturday evening to discuss the situation leading to the build of troops by India and Pakistan at their borders.

During the telephone conversation, Bush is reported to have expressed concern over the situation at the borders and he also appreciated the efforts of Musharraf to defuse the tensions, state-run Pakistan television said.

The two leaders discussed the events that led to the tension between the two countries, it added.

The official APP news agency later said that Bush appreciated the prudence and statesmanship being shown by Pakistan.

"That is what, in fact, is required," it quoted the US president as saying.

Bush told Musharraf the international community appreciated Pakistan's policy of restraint and its firm support for the US-led campaign against terrorism. He is reported to have assured Musharraf of his continued support.

For his part, Musharraf told Bush that Pakistan was showing 'utmost restraint and patience', while it believed that all issues could be resolved through a dialogue and discussion, the agency said.

Musharraf urged the international community to 'counsel India' to show the 'sense of restraint demonstrated by Pakistan', it said.

Bush's phone call to Musharraf followed reports that US also passed off evidence relating to the terrorist attack on Parliament.

According to APP, US Secretary of State Colin Powell also called Musharraf to express concern over the rising tensions with India.

Powell and Secretary of Defence Donald H Rumsfeld have been in almost daily contact with Musharraf following escalation of the crisis, it said.

Bush, who on Friday had said that the Indo-Pak tension figured high on his agenda, expressed concern to Musharraf over the volatile situation prevailing at the border as a result of massing of troops by both the countries, it said.

During his chat with the media at his Crawford ranch in Texas, Bush had said that Musharraf has acted against certain terrorist groups and hoped that India would take note of it.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar had earlier in the day claimed that, so far, 50 activists of the Jaish-e-Muhammad, which was blamed by India for the attack on Parliament, had been arrested.

Sattar, however, clarified at a media briefing in Islamabad that Lashkar-e-Tayiba leader Hafeez Muhammad Saeed, who recently quit the post, had not yet been arrested.

PTI

Complete Coverage: The Attack on Parliament

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report