UNITED NATIONS, Sept 13: Working to defuse tensions over Kashmir, US President George W. Bush urged Pakistan to “adhere to democracy” and vowed to deepen ties to India in meetings with leaders from both nations here on Thursday.

A top US official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, quoted Bush as telling President Pervez Musharraf that “adherence to democracy is key” as they met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

“Right at the very top of the meeting, (Bush) stressed how important is that the Pakistanis follow through on their commitments to return to full democracy,” said the official.

But Bush did not threaten any “specific penalties” for not holding free and fair elections, nor did he offer Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee any more than symbolic pledges of amity, the official said.

And the official could not cite any concrete progress towards resolving tensions over Kashmir, saying only that Bush’s half-hour meetings had reminded both sides “that we do think it is important that progress is achieved.”

Bush “pushed the Pakistanis hard” to end violence across the Line of Control, and said doing so was “basically the precursor” to making progress on resolving the underlying disputes, the official said.

The US leader also stressed that Washington hoped to defuse tensions over the territory.

Both leaders celebrated improving bilateral relations and vowed to make even more progress, noting in particular “the positive developments in the area of counter-terrorism and defence cooperation,” the official said.—AFP