In a clear reference to India, President Hamid Karzai has assured his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf that no power will be permitted to use Afghanistan to harm Islamabad.
"We are conscious of the sensitivity and apprehensions of Pakistan," the Afghan leader said Wednesday while replying to a pointed question from a Pakistani journalist about the Indian missions in Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly complained that the Indian embassy in Kabul and its consulates are engaged in anti-Pakistan activities.
Karzai said the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan were "brothers", a remark the Pakistani media Thursday splashed on their front pages.
"When we call each other brothers, we must mean it in our minds and hearts and must be very careful about this sensitivity of a brother," he said.
Pakistani media reports quoted Karzai as saying that his country would not allow any foreign consulate to work against Pakistan.
Any such activity would amount to harming Afghan interests, he added.
Musharraf, whose high profile visit to Kabul is being followed closely by the international community, spoke of the need to "kill mistrust" among the Afghans and Pakistanis.
He said extremism and terrorism was a "common enemy" to both countries.
{{/usCountry}}He said extremism and terrorism was a "common enemy" to both countries.
{{/usCountry}}"If we continue to say that all the wrongs taking place in Afghanistan are because of Pakistan and the wrongs taking place in Pakistan are due to Afghanistan, it will not work and our ties cannot improve," he said.
Musharraf had a lengthy one-to-one meeting with Karzai at the Presidential Palace Wednesday evening. He described the talks as "extremely fruitful".
He said he came to Kabul to strengthen relations with Afghanistan and ironing out possible misperceptions. He said it was imperative for Islamabad and Kabul to have brotherly relations.
Accompanying Musharraf were his wife Sehba, 16 cabinet ministers, governors of the North West Frontier Province and Balochistan that border Afghanistan and other top officials.