ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: President General Pervez Musharraf and Australian Prime Minister John Howard held a 45-minute meeting on Tuesday and expressed unanimity of views on major international issues. The Australian premier paid tributes to the Pakistani leader for his pivotal efforts in the fight against terrorism.

“We admire very much Pakistan’s firm stand in the war against international terror and the personal risks the president has taken,” he said after the meeting at the Aiwan-i-Sadr.

President Musharraf described the talks as ‘excellent’ and said they had focused on bolstering ties in all fields and issues of common concern, including counter-terrorism.

“There was a complete consensus of views on these subjects,” he declared.

Mr Howard said the two countries had “commonality of views on most of the issues” and added that they had also discussed efforts for peace in the Middle East. He expressed his country’s solidarity with Pakistan over the quake catastrophe. “Australians have been moved at the plight of quake-affected people,” he said, assuring of Canberra’s support to Islamabad in dealing with the aftermath of the tragedy.

President Musharraf briefed the visiting leader about the relief and reconstruction efforts and expressed Pakistan’s gratitude to Mr Howard for the assistance Australia had extended in the wake of the disaster.

“They sent a medical team to a difficult quake-hit area,” the president noted with appreciation.

On bilateral ties, Gen Musharraf said Pakistan looks forward to strong relations with Australia.

Recalling the president’s visit to Canberra earlier this year, Mr Howard expressed the hope for closer ties and said his reciprocal visit had set the pace for multi-dimensional ties.

“The bilateral relations will go a long way since your visit to Canberra and now my visit to Pakistan will further contribute to strengthening these ties,” he said.

BANQUET: Later, speaking at a banquet hosted by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in his honour at the PM House, Mr Howard said Islam and all other religions strongly opposed violence.

“Terrorism is unacceptable to Islam and other religions.”

He expressed his “great respect” and “admiration” for the leadership of Pakistan for taking a strong stand in the war on terrorism.

Prime Minister Aziz said Pakistan was a moderate and enlightened country, a vibrant democracy and with a strong opposition with a vocal press.

He said both Australia and Pakistan “have commonality of views” on international issues and “are working together to enhance cooperation in all spheres”.

Mr Howard said Pakistan and Australia “have a lot of things in common, particularly in history, culture and sports”.—APP