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New York: Reflecting India's constraints in sending troops to Iraq at this juncture, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on September 25 conveyed to US President George W Bush that India's national security has "priority over everything else".

Bush appreciated India's position during the hour-long luncheon meeting at the high-security Waldorf Astoria Hotel, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha told reporters.

Vajpayee informed him that "national security needs have increased in recent years and national security of India has priority over everything else", he said.

Asked whether Bush had pressed India to send troops to Iraq, Sinha asserted, "This is absolutely wrong. There is no question of any pressure on us."

He said the issue came up in the larger context of Iraq and Bush understood India's position.

Asked about Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's address of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in which he raked up the Kashmir issue, Sinha said, "We had expected this. Pakistan is totally obsessed with India whereas we are not obsessed with Pakistan."

"They have such blinkering view that they can only see India and nothing else in the world," he said.

Bush, who also had a meeting with Musharraf before his talks with Vajpayee, is learnt to have asked the Pakistan President to take action to stop cross-border infiltration.

The American President, said the sources, would continue to press Pakistan to this end.

PTI