WASHINGTON, April 15: US President George W. Bush has urged India to ‘encourage’ President Pervez Musharraf’s efforts against terrorism because it was in the best interest of both India and the United States.

Mr Bush’s comments came hours after his rare meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh at the White House on Thursday. The US president usually does not meet foreign ministers but the White House had arranged this meeting to assure the Indians that Washington regarded India as her major global partner.

The Bush-Singh meeting, however, caused concerns in Washington’s administrative circles, particularly after the Indian media presented it as a major victory of India over Pakistan. In their comments to the US media, senior diplomatic observers in Washington pointed out that terming the meeting a major gain for India could politically hurt President Musharraf and his efforts to carry forward the current peace process with India.

Apparently, it was for this reason that President Bush chose a Friday-afternoon meeting in Washington to tell the world that in his meeting with the Indian foreign minister he did praise Pakistan’s role in the war against terrorism and urged India to support Pakistan’s efforts in t his direction.

“Today, I was with the Indian foreign minister and we were talking about the neighbourhood (South Asia),” recalled Mr Bush while addressing a convention of the Society of American Newspaper Editors. “And I reminded him that I was appreciative of the efforts of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in fighting Al Qaeda,” he said.

“I thought it was in the best interests of the United States and India that President Musharraf be tough when it comes to running down people in caves that are trying to do harm to free people,” said Mr Bush.

After telling Mr Singh that what President Musharraf was doing was also in the best interest of India, the US leader said he also told Mr Singh that “it made sense to encourage a leader like President Musharraf … after all, India is a free country.”

Earlier, after a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Indian foreign minister said he was rushing back to New Delhi to receive President Musharraf who was coming to the Indian capital to watch a cricket match and for talks on bilateral relations.

“We’ll continue with the very friendly discussions we had with him in Islamabad some days ago,” he added.

When reporters, attending the joint press conference, tried to make Mr Singh say something about expected talks between India and Pakistan on Kashmir, the Indian foreign minister turned to sports to evade the question.

“And, Madame, you may miss this afternoon’s game; I’m not going to miss a cricket match on the 17th,” said Mr Singh to Ms Rice who was invited to the first home game of Washington’s new National Baseball League team, the Nationals, but had to stay at the State Department for her meeting with Mr Singh.

The Indian foreign minister disagreed with a reporter who had suggested that he had come to Washington to consult the US administration over Gen Musharraf’s weekend visit to New Delhi. “The timing is linked, but otherwise, they have nothing to do with one another,” he said.

Like the US president, Mr Singh also praised President Musharraf for continuing the peace process in Pakistan and for helping reopen the Sarinagar-Muzzafarabad bus service after more than half a century. “I was in Islamabad some weeks ago and we had extremely useful discussions, result-oriented ones, with the Pakistan leadership, including the president,” he said and added: “And, I have no hesitation in saying that the opening of the bus route from Srinagar to Muzzafarabad would not have taken place without the president’s complete approval and support.”

F-16 ISSUE: The Indian foreign minister said that the issue of US’s sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan “did not come up” during his meetings with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“Well, F16s did not come up,” said Mr Singh when asked if he had discussed the issue with US leaders. “Our view had been made known to the President (Bush) by the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) some weeks ago, and we expressed our disappointment,” he said.

At a White House briefing, spokesman Scott McClellan echoed Mr Singh’s comment. Asked if Mr Bush and Mr Singh discussed F-16s and if Washington assured New Delhi that the proposed sale would not disturb a delicate balance of power in South Asia, Mr McClellan said: “The (F-16s) did not come up in the meeting.”

When a reporter repeated the question, Mr McClellan reiterated: “No. That did not come up in the discussion … the meeting really focused on ways to strengthen our bilateral relationship.”

Diplomatic observers in Washington say that India also has decided not to make too much fuss over the F-16 deal because it feels that it may hurt the bilateral peace process with Pakistan.