Pakistan's
President Asif Ali Zardari will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Indian
capital, Delhi, on 8 April, his office has announced. Mr
Zardari will visit, in a private capacity, the shrine of a famous Sufi Muslim
saint, in north-west Rajasthan state, his spokesman said. He will meet Mr Singh
for lunch before visiting the shrine in Ajmer city. This will be the first
visit to India by a Pakistani head of state for seven years. The visit comes as
tensions ease between the nuclear-armed neighbours amid efforts to improve mutual
trade over the last few months, correspondents say. Late on Sunday night,
Pakistani presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said Mr Zardari had accepted
Mr Singh's invitation for lunch and would stop by in Delhi on way to Ajmer, the
Times of India reports. Reports from Ajmer said the administration was
preparing for Mr Zardari's visit and that the entire shrine area was expected
to be closed to other devotees during the Pakistani president's visit. Earlier
on Sunday, the presidential office said that an India visit was on the cards
and the date and details of the trip were being worked out. This would be Mr
Zardari's first visit to India since he took over as president in 2008. The
last Pakistani president to visit India was Gen Pervez Musharraf, who came on
an official visit in 2005. Dialogue between India and Pakistan is being
strongly encouraged by the United States in particular, as it is keen to
promote regional stability ahead of the withdrawal of Nato-led forces in
Afghanistan, correspondents say.
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