Islamabad, Nov 8 (Xinhua) US president-elect Barack Obama held a phone conversation with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday and discussed cooperation on anti-terror efforts.”President-elect Obama said that he looked forward to improved relations with Pakistan,” said a statement from the Pakistani president’s media office.

Zardari expressed hope for better relations between the two countries in the days to come, the statement said.

Obama said that the US had a long lasting friendship with Pakistan and it hoped to eradicate terrorism from the region with Pakistan support, Pakistan’s Geo television reported.

Pakistan has been a US ally in the war against terror. But the relations between the two countries have been strained recently over cross-border US missile strikes in Pakistan.

Obama, who won the US presidential elections on Tuesday, had said earlier that he would authorize military action inside Pakistan if Al Qaeda terrorists were found there and Pakistan was not willing to act.