KABUL, Dec 7: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday that attacks perpetrated by “terrorists” infiltrating Afghanistan from Pakistan were severely undermining relations between the two countries.

“The president emphasised that the Afghan people desired to have strong and friendly relations with Pakistan. However, the continuation of violence perpetrated by terrorists from across the border was a major obstacle,” Karzai's office said in a statement.

The Afghan leader made the remark on Thursday evening during a meeting in Kabul with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.

Pakistan insists it is doing its utmost to quash extremism and “terrorists” in the semi-autonomous tribal agencies, which are governed by tribal, rather than national, law.

Mr Karzai issued a veiled warning that escalating violence in Afghanistan, which is already shattered by more than two decades of war, would harm Pakistan's interests too.

“In the same way that Afghans cannot imagine a stable, peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan without a peaceful and stable Pakistan, it is also impossible for Pakistan to have peace and stability without a peaceful and stable Afghanistan,” he said.Mr Kasuri insisted his country wanted Afghanistan to be stable, the statement said.

Mr Kasuri is due on Friday to hold talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta on the possibility of holding a jirga, or traditional assembly, of chiefs from the Pashtun tribes living on either side of the border to discuss ways of establishing peace.

Mr Kasuri arrived here on Thursday for talks on border security amid acrimony over alleged infiltration by Taliban militants causing havoc in the war-wracked nation's south and east, officials said.

Mr Kasuri met Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta upon his arrival and held talks with President Karzai in Kabul.

''We hope to talk about security in the region and also speak about peace jirgas,'' said Khaleeq Ahmed, a spokesman for Karzai. ''Cross-border infiltration will also be discussed.''

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said in Islambad that Kasuri's two-day visit is part of regular bilateral consultations.

Tom Koenigs, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for Afghanistan, said he hoped the foreign ministers' meeting would stop the bickering and promote cooperation between the two countries.—Agencies