musharraf arrives on india visit
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has arrived in India for a key visit that will include talks with Indian premier Manmohan Singh.
President Musharraf has flown to India's Rajasthan state to visit a Muslim shrine and will head on to Delhi, arriving on Saturday evening.
The trip follows a year of peace talks, which last week saw the first buses in nearly 60 years cross divided Kashmir.
It is President Musharraf's first visit to India since a failed summit in 2001.
The president waved to crowds as he arrived in Jaipur in Rajasthan and immediately took a helicopter to Ajmer to visit the Sufi shrine of Muslim saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.
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Kashmir dispute
He will then fly back to Jaipur before heading to a dinner with Mr Singh in the capital.
Security is heavy in Rajasthan and Delhi. The president survived two assassination attempts in Pakistan in December 2003.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri, Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and foreign ministry officials are accompanying him.
On Sunday, the president is expected to watch some of the one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and India in Delhi.
He will also meet leaders of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Philippines trip
Mr Ahmed said before the president left: "It is a highly important visit. We are going there with an open mind and heart to discuss all issues including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir."
I hope Gen Musharraf will carry a message of love and peace from here. The bitterness should end Israr Mohammad, Ajmer resident
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Kashmir, which both nations claim in its entirety, remains the biggest problem between them.
The new bus service is seen as the biggest peace initiative in years and has been widely welcomed by Kashmiris.
The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says President Musharraf believes the majority in Pakistan are prepared for some compromise on Kashmir if India is prepared to do the same.
On Friday, he said he considered the peace process in Kashmir to be irreversible.
However, he also reiterated that Pakistan could never accept the Line of Control, which separates the disputed portions of Kashmir, becoming an international border.
Analysts say there is unlikely to be any further breakthrough in the president's short trip.
India's cabinet met on Saturday to discuss the visit.
India's National Security Adviser MK Narayanan said Mr Singh would put forward new measures on Kashmir to the president that may include more meetings, more bus services and greater people-to-people contacts through tourism.
President Musharraf heads to the Philippines on Monday.
