Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf (R) shakes hands with Indian Foreign minister Salman Khurshid at a hotel in Jaipur March 9, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
JAIPUR: Premier Raja Pervez Ashraf arrived in India Saturday for a pilgrimage to a revered Muslim shrine, with Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid welcoming him with "open arms".
Khurshid's warm words for Ashraf - making his first visit to India as prime minister - come despite strained relations between the nuclear-armed rivals over recent border clashes.
"It's in our culture to welcome our guests with open arms," said Khurshid ahead of a lunch he will host for Ashraf at the Rambagh Palace, a luxury heritage hotel in the tourist city of Jaipur in northern India.
An Indian foreign ministry official told AFP however there would be no "substantive talks" at the meeting.
"India is happy to host a lunch for the Pakistani prime minister. We are just extending our hospitality," a senior Indian foreign ministry official told AFP.
Ashraf is the most senior Pakistani to visit India since last April when President Asif Ali Zardari made a similar pilgrimage and had lunch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Ashraf and his family planned a day-long private trip to the 13-century shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Jaipur.
Tensions spiked between New Delhi and Islamabad in January and February as a total of six soldiers were killed in exchanges along the de facto border in Kashmir, a region claimed by both countries. Four of the soldiers killed were from Pakistan while two were from India.
One of the Indians was beheaded allegedly by Pakistan.
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Shows how big hearted Indians are unlike us!
Strange ... lights in the background are still lit with Raja of Wapda around ??
If the so-called guest has no shame............the poor host has no option but to behave with decorum.
Why suddenly he wants to visit the shrine . Why not in his first more than his 60 years of life.Corruption has many faces and oreign trips with all the perks and friends is one of them especially the provate ones.
Foreign Minister meeting out Prime Minister? Shows how much respect our PM was given. Shameful.
Sure, Why not? Too bad Hajj isn`t coming any time soon otherwise that would have been a good private/ spiritual trip for the family as well... :p
The expression on Indian FM Khurshid's face implies the opposite.
But, India sending its FM to meet the supposed head of state of Pakistan sends a strong signal. Would India have sent its FM if US or UK or China's premiers had arrived?
Goes to show that India is sending a message, if you want to talk first get rid of Terror infrastructure against India.
Khurshid doesn't look too happy. RR's 32 teeth are on full display. I have a feeling that something is going to happen to the Indian Grid just by RR being around.
Who pays for this 'private visit" ?
What is the purpose of the visit?
Again one should ask the question who will pay for this private trip? There will be no redemption Mr. PM no matter where you go.
Lunch hosted by Indian FM. What a contrast. Khurshid is a Cambridge graduate, polished and an accomplished lawyer. Rental is, I leave it to the readers to figure out.
Watch out India, Raja Rental can impact your power supplies once he becomes a Sufi by praying at the shrine.