A day after he talked about the US' 'failure' to persuade Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism, President George W Bush on Tuesday spoke to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and assured him that Washington would continue to apply pressure on Islamabad on the issue.

During the seven-minute telephonic conversation, the situation in Iraq was discussed and the ongoing standoff between India and Pakistan was briefly touched upon, official sources said in Delhi.

The prime minister reiterated that India is willing to resume dialogue with Pakistan on all issues when the latter puts an end to cross-border terrorism.

Bush assured him that the US continues to apply pressure on Pakistan on the matter of cross-border terrorism, particularly asking it to ensure that infiltration does not increase as the snows melt, they said.

On Iraq, the two leaders discussed the efforts in the UN Security Council to frame another resolution regarding compliance by Baghdad on disarming weapons of mass destruction, sources said.

The US has been pressing for a second resolution seeking UN mandate for possible military action against Iraq. The resolution is expected to be put to vote on March 12.

New Delhi has advocated peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis while asking Baghdad to fully implement the provisions of Security Council resolution 1441 to disarm its weapons of mass destruction (WMD). India has also emphasised the need to pursue the UN route to address this issue.