Veteran journalist and Rajya Sabha member Kuldeep Nayyar is to lead a delegation of parliamentarians, writers and journalists on a nine-day visit to Pakistan.

The delegation would cross over to Lahore on June 17 via the Wagah border outpost near Amritsar in Punjab.

Nayyar told rediff.com that an organization called Hind Pakistan Dosti Manch is organising the trip.

"A delegation of 12-14 members would go there on the invitation of the Pakistani Parliamentarians Forum, whose members had visited India in May," he said.

Various political parties have sent names of their representatives to Nayyar.

"We are still in the process of finalising the list but some of the names have been approved. These include Renuka Chaudhary, Jagmeet Singh Brar and Rajiv Shukla (all Congress), Shahid Siddiqui (Samajwadi Party). V P Singh (BJP), Chaman Lal (CPI-M) and former Mizoram governor Swaraj Kaushal," he said.

According to the programme, the delegation would spend two days each in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi before flying back to Lahore on June 25 on its way back to India.

"We hope to meet Prime Minister Mir Zaffarullah Khan, their foreign minister and the chief ministers of Punjab and Sind. However, President General Pervez Musharraf would be out of the country at that time," he said.

The aim is to help in improve understanding between the people of India and Pakistan.

"A lot of the frost (between the two countries) melted after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended a hand of friendship to Pakistan," he said.