US President George W Bush hopes to move Indo-US relations forward "across the board" during the visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee though "today counter-terrorism is the immediate imperative," a top official in Washington said. Before September 11 attacks on the US "we were all moving forward on building a very strong, broad relationship with India. There is no change in that policy," US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca said. "I would say, in fact, that India's coming out as strongly as it did in support of the coalition has strengthened the prospect for a very strong bilateral relationship between the two countries," she told reporters on Bush's forthcoming meeting with Vajpayee in Washington. On the issue of Pakistan-sponsored crossborder terrorism, she pointed out that "our reply invariably is we urge both sides to exercise maximum restraint." Asked whether the issue of Kashmir would come up during the discussions, Rocca said: "In general terms, my guess is yes. I cannot speak for the White House but I don't believe there is going to be any meeting in New York (between Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf)."
As to whether the US would be promoting any meeting in New York between Vajpayee and Musharraf, she said: "We are, obviously, interested in resurrecting the dialogue. We have been talking about that for a long time". Bureau Report