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Advani arrives on week-long visit to Pakistan

By K G Suresh in Lahore
May 30, 2005 20:47 IST

Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani arrived in Lahore on Monday evening on a week-long visit to Pakistan.

Advani is scheduled to hold talks with top Pakistani leadership in Islamabad. He will also travel to Karachi, where he was born.

Also see: Hurriyat leaders leave for PoK on June 2

The former deputy prime minister, accompanied by his wife, is on his second visit to this country in 27 years.

Advani, the first Indian leader of the opposition to visit Pakistan officially, was received at the Lahore airport by Director General, Protocol, Colonel Hamdani.

During his two-day stay in Islamabad, Advani is scheduled to meet President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri and others.

Also see: Advani's Pak visit ill-timed -- Experts

His discussions are expected to focus on politics and the issue of terrorism.

Advani had last visited Pakistan in 1978 as information and broadcasting minister to mark the first live telecast of cricket match between the two countries.

Ahead of his visit on Monday, the BJP chief expressed hope the tour would further the peace process initiated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Musharraf in January 2004.

"I consider my visit to be a part of the happy process of steadily increasing people-to-people contacts at various levels between India and Pakistan," Advani said.

 

K G Suresh in Lahore
Source: PTI
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