During a 5-minute telephone call on Wednesday, US President George W Bush asked his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf to reduce tensions with India.
According to Sean McCormack, the White House National Security Council spokesman, the US president told Musharraf of the 'need to continue to reduce tensions along the Line of Control and the need to avoid violence'.
It was the second conversation between the two this week. On both occasions Bush thanked Musharraf for the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a top Al Qaeda operative who allegedly masterminded the 9/11 attacks.
On Tuesday, Bush had assured Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that the US would continue to press Pakistan to halt cross-border infiltration into J&K.