ANKARA, April 30: Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday agreed to deny sanctuary, training and financing to terrorists and vowed to promote peace, security and stability in the region.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in their “comprehensive, cordial and useful talks” sponsored by Turkish leaders, pledged to cooperate in promoting peace, security, stability and economic development in the region, according to the Ankara Declaration released here after the meeting.

President Musharraf and President Karzai identified extremism and terrorism as a common threat and a danger to the region and called for coordinated action to fight it and to continue their support to moderation.

The two leaders were on a two-day visit to Turkey, at the invitation of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, to discuss the prevailing situation in Afghanistan, measures to improve coordination against extremist elements and to remove misunderstandings.

They also agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) with the participation of high-level representatives of the three countries to monitor progress on agreed matters, and to coordinate the confidence-building measures and mechanisms.

President Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the meeting which also covered regional and international issues.

The leaders emphasised that the international community must work together to promote the objectives of Afghanistan Compact.

During the talks, the Presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to continue the dialogue and cooperation in all dimensions and to combine their efforts to enhance prosperity of their peoples.

They vowed to enhance their cooperation by building upon the Joint Press Statement of September 7, 2006, issued during President Musharraf's visit to Kabul.

They agreed to further bilateral relations on the basis of good neighbourliness, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

They expressed concern at the alarming increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and underlined the connection between terrorism, drug-trafficking and organised crime in the region, and emphasized the need for concerted efforts to combat these menaces.

They reaffirmed their commitment to enhance goodwill and create further confidence-building measures and mechanisms through interaction between political representatives, civil society, academicians and media, and promotion of sports and cultural links.

They also resolved to work jointly for facilitating orderly repatriation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan.

President Karzai expressed the gratitude of the people of his country to Pakistan for continuing to host millions of Afghan refugees. He also appreciated Pakistan's offer to host the next meeting of the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA).

The Presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan commended the initiative of Turkey for hosting the summit and appreciated its offer to organise further meetings towards the end of 2007 or early 2008.—APP