WASHINGTON, June 10: India’s Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani is believed to have told President George W. Bush that Pakistan should take concrete steps to end ‘cross-border terrorism’ if it wanted to resume talks with New Delhi.

The two leaders met at the White House on Monday evening when President Bush dropped in at Mr Advani’s meeting with National Security Adviser Dr Condoleezza Rice.

Later, officials at the Indian embassy in Washington told journalists that Mr Advani “took full advantage of his meeting with Mr Bush to articulate New Delhi’s reservations” about resuming talks with Pakistan.

He also stressed the need for sharing intelligence reports about terrorist activities in South Asia, Indian diplomats said.

“He minced no words in conveying India’s concern that Pakistan is not serious about stopping cross-border terrorism and listened patiently to the US views on this subject,” said a diplomat.

The Indian deputy prime minister, the diplomat said, reminded the US president that two previous rounds of talks with Pakistan had failed because “Islamabad was not willing to stop cross-border terrorism in Kashmir.”

US official sources, however, told Dawn that Dr Rice stressed that talks with Pakistan should be resumed “and there should be no going back” to the tensions that existed last summer.

Mr Advani told US officials that he was not opposed to peace moves but Pakistan had to show its sincerity first by “dismantling terrorist camps,” Indian diplomats said.

He indicated that bilateral talks would start only after “a comprehensive evaluation of Pakistan’s response.”

In an unscheduled meeting with Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Mr Advani emphasized the need for strengthening defence cooperation between the two countries, Indian officials said.

In a rare gesture, Mr Rumsfeld visited the Indian leader at his hotel and stressed the need for India’s participation in the reconstruction of war-ravaged Iraq in the 40-minute meeting.

Indian sources told journalists that Mr Rumsfeld wants India to contribute at least one division to the international force being raised to maintain law and order in Iraq. The outgoing American ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, also attended the meeting.

Mr Advani also met Attorney-General John Ashcroft and discussed the possibility of exchanging terrorism suspects, sources said.