Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf [Images] said on Tuesday that the United States should support efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue in the interest of durable peace and stability in the region.

Musharraf, who met US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley at Rawalpindi,'underscored the importance of moving towards a settlement of the Kashmir dispute in the interest of durable peace and stability in the region', an official release said.

Musharraf said that the US should lend its support to 'efforts aimed at resolving the Jammu and Kashmir [Images] dispute', it added.

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Hadley praised the Pakistan president for his initiatives to promote peace and stability in South Asia, including the Pakistan-India peace process, it said.

The meeting focused on bilateral relations and issues of common interest, it said. While Hadley expressed appreciation for Pakistan's contribution in countering terrorism and taking measures to curb extremism, Musharraf reiterated that Pakistan was committed to rooting out terrorism.

Hadley said the US appreciated the support extended by Pakistan to the efforts of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government for promoting peace and stability in the country.

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The American National Security Adviser is on a two-day visit to Pakistan. This was Musharraf's first meeting with a top US official after his recent high profile tour to US, where he met President George W Bush [Images] on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.