ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: British Foreign Secretary David Miliband conveyed to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Wednesday Afghanistan’s new proposal for joint military operations along the Pak-Afghan border for effectively dealing with cross-border insurgent attacks in Afghanistan.

Mr Miliband, who arrived here from Afghanistan where he met military and political leaders, including President Hamid Karzai, put across the suggestion at a breakfast meeting with

Mr Qureshi.

Sources said the foreign minister rejected the proposal, albeit in a diplomatic manner, and told his guest that there was “greater coordination and trust between Pakistan and Afghanistan governments”.

The allied forces in Afghanistan have been putting pressure on Pakistan to do more to fight Al Qaeda and Taliban militants in ‘safe havens’ along its porous western border.

The proposal for joint operations was meant to take forward the recently developed cooperation between Pakistan, US and Afghan forces in the shape of ‘coordinated attacks’ against the militants, which were dubbed by US military authorities as a ‘major success’.

US troops and Pakistani forces had launched a coordinated operation called ‘Operation Lion Heart’ earlier this month to put pressure on insurgents on both sides of the Pak-Afghan border in which they cooperated in terms of intelligence sharing and coordination.

On being pointed out by Mr Qureshi that Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategy was being undermined by US drone attacks, Mr Miliband said he fully understood implications of these strikes. However, alluding to the death of top militants in these attacks, a source quoted him as saying that there were certain obvious reasons because of which the strikes were continuing.

Mr Miliband, who was on his third visit to Pakistan in past 18 months, in talks with Mr Qureshi focussed particularly on counter-terrorism and is said to have emphasised that Pakistan’s role in this regard was gaining greater world attention.

“It is now Afghanistan and Pakistan and soon it could be Pakistan and Afghanistan,” the source quoted the foreign secretary as saying while highlighting the significance that was being attached to Pakistan by the world.A statement by the Foreign Office also referred to the issue and said: “Mr Miliband underscored that greater world attention was now on Pakistan as an important player not just in the fight against terrorism but also in the regional economic and security context. He also underscored that there should be greater coordination with Pakistan on these issues.”

Mr Qureshi sought greater cooperation from the UK in terms of technology and equipment to fight insurgency in the restive tribal areas.

He underlined the importance Pakistan attached to its relations with the EU and the need for the EU to give greater market access to Pakistani goods.

The British foreign secretary agreed to support Pakistan’s request for market access to EU.

Mr Miliband said the EU was ready to assist Pakistan in the socio-economic sector.

British foreign secretary later called on President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani. He appreciated Pakistan’s new strategy to address the issue of terrorism. He said the British government agreed on the need to incorporate political and economic means besides security measures to confront the challenges of terrorism in Afghanistan.

He expressed the desire to further enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of education and against illegal migration.