US President George W. Bush yesterday had discussions by telephoned with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul with the two sides pledging to beef up bilateral cooperation over international affairs.

"President Bush thanked President Gul for his commitment to a stable and secure Iraq as well as his ongoing work to promote cooperation between the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan," US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

The telephone discussion occurred ahead of Gul's meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in Istanbul today, during which the Turkish leader is expected to try to promote cooperation between Kabul and Islamabad.

The scheduled tripartite meeting will be the second of its kindsince April 2007 which enabled Karzai and then Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf to discuss stepping up joint efforts against the Taliban militants.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a 2,400-kilometer border. Afghan officials said hard-line militants were using their hideout inside Pakistani tribal areas to launch cross-border attacks in Afghanistan, while Islamabad insisted that concerted efforts from both sides of the border were needed to stop the cross-border movement of fighters.