(rpting, rephrasing para four)

Islamabad, Jan 13 (UNI) External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived here this afternoon on a two-day visit, his first to Pakistan, and hoped that the peace process between the two countries will move forward.

Immediately after arriving at the Chaklala Airport near here, he said the peace process between the two countries should go ahead.

He was received at the airport by Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Satyabrata Paul and other senior officials of both governments.

Mr Mukherjee, who is on his first ever visit to Pakistan, primarily to invite the Pakistani leadership for the 14th SAARC Summit in New Delhi in April, will call on President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shoukat Aziz. He clarified that he was carrying an invite for the Pakistani Premier for the SAARC summit and not for Gen Musharraf as was being speculated.

He will later have talks with his counterpart Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri.

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