Washington: US President George W Bush on June 24 met his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf and is understood to have underlined the need for easing tensions between India and Pakistan.

This was the first meeting between the two leaders after India announced fresh peace initiatives with Pakistan and nearly a fortnight after Bush met Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani at White House.

Bush-Musharraf meeting took place at the US President's Camp David retreat.

Before the meeting, CNN said Bush would be stressing the importance of easing tensions with India.

WTOP Radio said Musharraf is the seventh foreign leader whom Bush has honoured this way among the dozens of leaders he has received.

WTOP said that Bush "regards Musharraf as an important partner in the war on terrorism" and noted Pakistan has helped the US capture some important leaders of al-Qaida.

As the meeting began, Pakistan government said that its troops have secured all the important passes leading into Afghanistan from Pakistan, indicating that this would help in the war against terrorism.

Reports said that Musharraf wants more than verbal praise: He would like the US to release 28 F-16s Pakistan had brought 13 years ago.

However, WTOP said, Bush does not want to exacerbate tensions between Pakistan and India by doing that and, in any case, US Congress has blocked the sales.

PTI