Pakistan prime minister arrives

(23 Nov 2004) SHOTLIST

1. Pakistani and Indian flags
2. Various of plane taxiing on tarmac
3. Red carpet being rolled out
4. Pakistani flag on plane's tail
5. Pakistani prime minister Shaukat Aziz and entourage coming down stairs
6. Various of Aziz meeting India's external affairs minister, Natwar Singh and other delegates on tarmac
7. Aziz and Natwar Singh waving and walking
8. Aziz getting into official car
9. Close up Aziz in car
10. Various of official convoy driving away

STORYLINE:

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrived in India on Tuesday to help push forward a fragile peace process initiated by the nuclear-armed rivals earlier this year.

Aziz was received at the New Delhi airport by India's External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh.

He will meet a number of top Indian officials during his two-day visit.

On Wednesday, his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to include discussions about Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan region at the root of decades of Indo-Pakistani distrust.

The goodwill gained since January as both sides has seen eased visa restrictions, resumed diplomatic contacts, and relaunched air and rail links.

It is the first visit by Shaukat Aziz to India.

The biggest challenge for the leaders of the neighbours is to "find such a solution for (the) Kashmir issue which is acceptable to Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris," according to Masood Khan, a spokesman for Pakistan's foreign ministry.

Aziz is visiting the region as chairman of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC, which includes Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.

India's Prime Minister and Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf are likely to meet in the Bangladeshi capital during the SAARC summit in January.

On Tuesday, Aziz was scheduled to meet India's main opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani, and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who kicked off the peace process in January.

Speaking Monday in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Aziz said his trip to New Delhi was part of Pakistan's commitment to peaceful relations with its neighbours, including India.

The decades-old issue of Kashmir, the Himalayan region that is divided between the two sides. Attacks by Pakistan-based Islamic militants in Indian-controlled Kashmir, are at the heart of festering tensions between the two sides.

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