WASHINGTON, Nov 8: US President-elect Barack Obama called President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday and assured him of his support to the new democratic setup in Pakistan.

“It was a very warm conversation and both leaders expressed confidence in each other,” said Ambassador Husain Haqqani. “Mr Obama expressed his full support to democracy in Pakistan.”

“No specifics were discussed,” said the Pakistani ambassador in Washington when asked if the two leaders also talked about the war on terror. “But US leaders, including President-elect Obama, understand and appreciate Pakistan’s resolve to eradicate terrorism from South Asia.”

Sources in Mr Obama’s camp said the president-elect’s conversation with the Pakistani leader was part of a series of ‘touch-base’ calls he has made to world leaders since his election.

Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter told reporters that Mr Obama telephoned nine world leaders on Thursday.

They included Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, Mexican President Felipe Calderón, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

On Friday, he called six more leaders: Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, President Lech Kaczynski of Poland and President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan.

“The calls generally lasted from five to 10 minutes and were mainly introductory in nature,” said an Obama aide.

In his conversation with Mr Zardari, the president-elect noted that the US and Pakistan were traditional allies and he wanted to strengthen this relationship.

Mr Obama is co-sponsor of a US Senate resolution that promises to increase non-military aid to Pakistan, providing $15 billion to the country over the next 10 years. While the accompanying military aid will be conditioned to Pakistan’s performance in the war against terror, the non-military aid will have no conditions.

Mr Obama has also indicated that he may appoint former US president Bill Clinton as his special envoy on Kashmir.

According to reports in the Pakistani media on Saturday, President Zardari is likely to meet Mr Obama and Vice-President-elect Joe Biden during a trip to the US next week.

But sources in Mr Obama’s camp said “there is no such meeting on cards.”

Mr Zardari is scheduled to fly to New York on Nov 11 and return home on Nov 14. He may also be visiting Washington on Nov 15 to participate in the world economic summit as an observer. He is also said to visit Chicago for a possible meeting with Mr Obama.

But officials at the Pakistan embassy in Washington said that so far he had no plans to visit Washington or Chicago and would return home after attending the inter-faith summit.

Pakistani and US officials, however, are exploring the possibility of an official visit during Mr Obama’s first year in office.

“Nothing has been finalised yet, but we have reasons to believe that President Zardari will make an official visit to Washington next year,” a Pakistani official said.