Kabul - A top US official for the South-Asian region hailed the improved relations between Afghan and Pakistani governments and emphasized that the only way to defeat terrorism in two Asian states was through their joint cooperation.

Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari left Kabul on Wednesday for Islamabad after holding a second round of talks with his Afghan counterpart.

"President Zardari and President (Hamid) Karzai had breakfast together and then continued their discussion on bilateral issues including the two countries' war on terror," Siamak Herawi, a presidential spokesman said.

The Pakistani president along with his team left Kabul for Islamabad on Wednesday afternoon, he said. Zardari was on a two-day- trip in Kabul for the first time as a president.

The relations between the two US allies on war against terrorism have been improved since Zardari took office in September last year.

Zardari's predecessor General Pervez Musharraf was at daggers drawn over Karzai's accusations that Pakistan was supporting the insurgents in Afghanistan.

"We have a much better understanding between our two governments, between the two presidents than ever before - God is kind in this regard to us," Karzai told a joint press conference after talks with Zardari on Tuesday evening.

Zardari also praised their improved relations, saying, "We want to tell the world today that we are standing shoulder to shoulder, that we are together in this fight against these non-state actors who have taken nations and countries, and in fact superpowers, to war."

"The United States very much welcomes the cooperation between Pakistan and Afghanistan," Richard Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs, told a news conference in Kabul on Wednesday.

Boucher, who was in Islamabad on Monday and met both Zardari and Karzai this week, said that he has observed "strong determinations" on the sides of Afghanistan and Pakistan to jointly eliminate the menace of terrorism in their countries.

"We think the only way that we can beat the menace, beat back the Taliban and terrorists that are threatening Pakistanis and Afghans is by having the kind of Afghan-Pakistan cooperation," Boucher said.

During Musharraf's terms, Afghan officials including Karzai had repeatedly accused Pakistan of not doing enough to stop cross-border infiltration by Taliban militants who are said to have sanctuaries in Pashtun-dominated areas straddling the common border.

Pakistani forces recently mounted a major operation to root out the militants from around an highway that links Pakistan's Peshawar city to the Afghan border.

But Afghan and western military officials have indicated in the past that the militants would continue to operate in tribal areas on the porous border unless the 70,000 international forces in Afghanistan go after safe havens inside Pakistan.

Asked if Islamabad would allow NATO-led multinational troops to carry out its military operations on its soil, Zardari said "To the world we say: Help us; we can fight, we can look after ourselves, we know our terrain, we have our strength, all we need is the support."

"So given the proper support, we can do the job better, cheaper than you can do it," Zardari said.

Boucher also admitted that Pakistan has become more determined in fight against the militants based in its territory, saying, "Pakistan remains heavily engaged in tribal areas, heavily engaged in trying to end terrorist menace up there we have really seen little change in that situation." (dpa)