Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf [Images] on Wednesday sought Washington's help in resolving its long-standing territorial dispute with India over the Kashmir region, calling it 'the root of tension in South Asia', a foreign ministry statement said Wednesday.

Musharraf made the request on Tuesday at a meeting with visiting US national security adviser Stephen Hadley near the capital, Islamabad.

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India and Pakistan have since 2004 improved relations and are currently engaged in a peace process to resolve all disputes, including Kashmir, a former princely state which is divided between them by a cease-fire line but claimed by both in its entirety.

At Tuesday's meeting with Hadley, Musharraf asked the United States 'to lend its support to the efforts aimed at resolving the Jammu and Kashmir [Images] dispute which is the root of tension in South Asia', the statement said.

Hadley also met with Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri and Tariq Aziz, secretary of the National Security Council.

Hadley on Wednesday was leaving Pakistan, his final stop on an Asian trip after visiting Turkey and Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, Hadley told a news conference that President George W Bush [Images] plans to visit South Asia next year and hold talks with Musharraf.

He also called for enhancing cooperation among Islamabad, Kabul and Washington in the war on terror in Afghanistan, where coalition forces have been hunting for remnants of Taliban and al Qaida.

Pakistan, a key ally of the United States in its war on terror, was once a main supporter of the former Taliban regime, but Musharraf switched sides after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US and now backs Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government.

Pakistan has deployed about 80,000 troops near Afghanistan to capture al Qaida linked militants, but has failed to capture Osama bin Laden, who Musharraf says could be hiding along Pakistan-Afghan border.