ISLAMABAD - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Pakistan's military ruler President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday night that the United States supports Pakistan's move toward free elections, a State Department spokesman said.
"The Secretary expressed our firm support for steady movement along a path to free and fair elections in 2007," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said after Rice met for three hours with Musharraf, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999.
Rice had earlier met Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz after arriving from the Indian capital New Delhi on her first trip to the continent since taking up her post in January.
Pakistan has been a staunch ally of US President George W. Bush since the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington which killed about 3,000 people and for which Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
"She expressed our appreciation for Pakistans superb support in the war on terror," Boucher said.
Rice, who was to fly to the Afghan capital Kabul early Thursday, also discussed with Musharraf "how both our nations can support Afghanistan as it moves to parliamentary elections in the months to come," Boucher said.
After a brief stop in Kabul, Rice is to return later the same day to Pakistan for talks with other senior Pakistani figures including her counterpart Khurshid Kasuri.
A Pakistani official speaking on condition of anonymity said Wednesday that Pakistan was likely to raise with Rice its wish to join an international group fighting the spread of nuclear weapons.
Pakistan's bid to join the 44-member Nuclear Suppliers Group comes despite growing international concern over a black market run by A.Q. Khan, the disgraced father of Pakistan's own atomic programme.
"They both emphasized the importance of our continuing cooperation to uproot the entire A.Q. Khan network," Boucher said, referring to Rice and Musharraf.
Earlier India and the United States agreed to strengthen cooperation in defence and energy during Rice's flying visit to New Delhi.
The US Secretary of State, who arrived in the Indian capital late Tuesday, held a flurry of meetings from early morning before departing for Pakistan.
She was upbeat about the peace process between India and Pakistan after talks with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh.
"We very much admire what the (Indian) prime minister and (Pakistani) President Pervez Musharraf have been able to continue, given the change in government here in India," Rice told a joint press conference with Singh.
"It is heartening that dialogue has continued and indeed accelerated and we want to be supportive in any way that we can."
The neighbours began a slow-moving peace dialogue in January last year and last month agreed to restart a bus service linking the two zones of Kashmir in the most visible sign of progress so far.
India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring an Islamic rebellion in Kashmir, which is divided between the two neighbours but claimed in full by both. Islamabad denies the allegations and says it merely supports an indigenous freedom struggle by Kashmiris.
Rice also underlined US cooperation with India to provide relief after the December 26 tsunamis and said it signalled more joint military-to-military exercises.
"Our defence cooperation is strong with military-to-military contacts and joint exercises and the United States looks forward to enhancing that defence cooperation over the next several years," Rice said.
When asked about the possible sale of F-16 fighter jets to India, Rice replied: "The sale of F-16s came up."
She said no agreement would be announced on the issue, adding that the sale of the warplanes would also likely be raised in talks with Islamabad.
"Together they considered Pakistans defense and security needs. The subject of F-16s was discussed in that context," Boucher said later after Rice's meeting with the Pakistani leader.
Officials here have not said if Rice will make any announcement about Islamabad's request to buy more F-16 fighter jets from the US. India strongly opposes the sale.
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that on her six-country swing through South Asia Rice is expected to signal US willingness to sell F-16s to both Pakistan and India.
The paper, citing US government sources, said the US could sell Pakistan about two dozen jets while India could buy as many as 125.
03/16/2005 20:27 GMT