Pakistan and India have agreed to exchange information for investigations into terrorist activities and prevention of violence and terrorist acts in both countries, according to an official statement issued on Wednesday.

The agreement was reached during the first meeting of the Pakistani-Indian Joint Anti-Terror mechanism held in Islamabad to identify and implement counter-terror initiatives.

The two sides "agreed that specific information will be exchanged through the Mechanism for helping investigations on either side related to terrorist acts and prevention of violence and terrorist acts in the two countries," the joint statement said.

Both sides also agreed that while the Anti-Terrorism Mechanism would meet on a quarterly basis, any information which is required to be conveyed on priority basis would be immediately conveyed through the respective Heads of the mechanism, according to the statement.

Pakistan and India decided to institutionalize a joint anti- terrorism mechanism to identify and implement counter-terrorism initiatives and investigations, during a meeting between Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Havana last September.

The joint mechanism was formally constituted in November 2006 when the foreign secretaries of the two countries met in Islamabad for talks.

The inaugural meeting of the joint anti-terror mechanism kicked off in Islamabad on March 6, with Foreign Ministry's Additional Secretary Tariq Osman Hyder leading the Pakistani delegation, K. C. Singh, Additional Secretary of India's External Affairs Ministry the Indian side.

Source: Xinhua