Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai have said that the two countries have developed a very strong understanding of each other's problems and looked forward to much stronger cooperation and coordination in all fields for their mutual benefits.

Speaking at a joint press conference after their meeting in Islamabad Wednesday, the two leaders agreed that there had been significant decrease in terrorist activities in Afghanistan from Pakistan's side.

They also noted that there was an increase in terrorist activities on the Pakistani side and agreed to strengthen intelligence cooperation to tackle the menace effectively.

Musharraf said that people of the two countries were sufferings at the hands of extremists and terrorists and they discussed ways on how to enhance cooperation to address the challenge.

He referred to the geographic affinity of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asian republics and said that they discussed the need for developing communication and infrastructure linkages in the region to promote trade and commerce.

Musharraf said that they also noted the success of the first grand Jirga of the two countries and Pakistan would be privileged to host the next Jirga commission meeting.

He said that a smaller nucleus was to be created of the Jirga and Pakistan would be sending names for that purpose.

Karzai described Pakistan and Afghanistan as twins and said that their destinies were bound together.

He said that they discussed in all sincerity how to enhance their understanding of the problems that the two countries were facing.

He thanked Musharraf for his understanding of Afghanistan's wheat and flour crisis and announcing 1,000 scholarships for Afghan students to undertake higher studies in Pakistan.

(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2007)