WASHINGTON, Feb 16: President George Bush’s visit to Pakistan next month underscores the US desire to broaden its relations with this key ally in the war on terror, a senior State Department official told a Senate committee on Thursday.

At his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Boucher, the designated Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, also pledged to work for concluding a civilian nuclear partnership with India.

But Mr Boucher assured Islamabad that while the US begins this new strategic engagement with India, “we also continue America’s long friendship with Pakistan.”

President Bush’s visit to Pakistan, he said, will also “make clear that we are deeply committed to helping the Pakistani people recover from the devastating earthquake of last October.”

Mr Boucher noted that President Musharraf has made the important decision to move his country away from extremism and towards a future as a modern democracy. “And we fully support him in this undertaking,” he added.

Mr Boucher said that now was the time for Pakistan to move towards democracy and provide better facilities for education and health to its people. The US, he said, was willing to help Pakistan achieve these goals.

He emphasized the need for better military coordination between Pakistan and Afghanistan and said that it was important for Pakistan to make efforts to uproot the extremists operating along their border.

The US official acknowledged that Pakistan had taken steps to contain alleged infiltrations into occupied Kashmir.

For the Bush administration, he said: “The two most important areas” at this state were opening new venues of economic cooperation with India and concluding a civilian nuclear partnership.