United States Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage arrived in Delhi on Friday night.
Armitage landed at the Delhi airport at 2205 hours and drove straight to his hotel without speaking to the media contingent. He will hold intensive consultations with Indian leaders on Saturday.
He will start his engagements meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi, which will be followed by talks with Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, who will host a lunch for him, and then a meeting with External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha. Armitage will call on Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, meet Finance Minister Jaswant Singh and round off his trip with a call on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee before leaving in the evening.
Hours before his arrival India had again asked Pakistan to dismantle its terrorist infrastructure and stop cross-border infiltration if the peace moves initiated had to culminate successfully.
Earlier, Armitage told reporters in Islamabad that his discussions with Pakistani leaders 'would be faithfully carried to our Indian friends' for them to study and decide on their course of response.
New Delhi has held that it will not be hustled into summit-level talks with Pakistan without adequate preparation and will tread with caution.
