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WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (AFP) - India's Home Minister L.K. Advani on Thursday met President George W. Bush, and said he had received an assurance that the United States expected Pakistan to "abandon terror as an instrument of state policy."

Bush dropped by a White House meeting between Advani and national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, in an unofficial, yet highly symbolic move which the White House said was designed to underscore close US ties with India.

"The president conveyed to me that he expected Pakistan and its leader General Musharraf to take all necessary steps in fighting terror," Advani told reporters after the meeting.

"He had done it in the case of the Taliban, and the president expects him to do it in the case of India also and abandon terror as an instrument of state policy."

The White House assessment of Bush's remarks however, differed significantly in tone from Advani's interpretation of the conversation.

"The president told Minister Advani that he has urged President Musharraf to take appropriate steps against extremists operating in and from Pakistan," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

"The president also stressed the importance of solving the Indo-Pakistan differences through diplomatic and political means."

Advani launched a five-day visit to the United States on Wednesday by lashing out at Pakistan over an attack on India's parliament on December 13 which triggered a dangerous regional crisis.

India is seeking to brand its bitter rival as a supporter of state sanctioned terrorism and accuses Pakistani intelligence services of backing the attack allegedly carried out by two Pakistan-based militant groups. Islamabad has denied the charge.

New Delhi equates the parliament attack, and its struggles with militant fighters in disputed Kashmir to the September 11 assaults and the subsequent US war in Afghanistan targeting Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

The United States, while supportive of India's bid to eradicate terrorism in its own backyard, is also aware of the pressure on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf -- whom it has bound into its war on terrorism in Afghanistan as a key ally.

Advani, number two ranked minister in the Indian cabinet, described his meeting with Bush as "the most important discussions of my tour."

"To hear all this that I had just mentioned from the highest executive of the country makes all the difference."

New Delhi has said a roundup of militants already launched by Islamabad -- which has drawn US praise -- is unsatisfactory and Advani on Wednesday issued a four point set of demands for immediate Pakistan action against what is says are terrorists.

The demands included the handover of 20 militants branded by India as terrorists, and the closure of training camps, arms supply routes and funding of "terrorist" groups on Pakistani soil. Advani also called on Pakistan to stop militants infiltrating the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir and to issue an unequivocal renunciation of terrorism.

Secretary of State Colin Powell met Advani on Wednesday after announcing he would head to India and Pakistan on a peace mission next week.

Despite Advani's attacks on Pakistan during his visit, US officials believe that ahead of Powell's trip, and following an encounter between Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last weekend, South Asian tensions have stepped back from the point of immediate confrontation.

"They have stopped the rush toward confrontation, they appear to be giving each other a little bit of time. Musharraf is taking the kind of steps that ultimately need to be taken to defuse the crisis and prevent its re-occurrence," said a senior State Department official.

"But that's about as much as we would claim. We're trying to avoid using words like easing and backing off." 

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