The White House said the attacks Tuesday that claimed 34 lives in Indian-administered Kashmir were acts of terrorism. President Bush discussed the latest round of bloodshed in Kashmir in a telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said the president called Prime Minister Vajpayee to offer sympathy to the victims' families.
"The president condemned the terrorist activity and said he was working very hard to end terrorism and to find a peaceful solution to the bi-lateral tensions between India and Pakistan," Mr. Fleischer said.
Currently at the forefront of those efforts is the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Christina Rocca. She met with officials in both India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the attacks in Kashmir.
The targets of Tuesday's attacks were a bus and an army camp. Many women and children were among the victims. The Indian government maintains the attacks were the work of Muslim militants based in Pakistan. The Pakistanis deny any role in the bloodshed.