President Asif Ali Zardari is expected to leave for India on April 08 on a daylong private visit to offer prayers at Ajmer Sharif, it has been learnt. Sources said that President Zardari has conveyed to the government his desire to visit Ajmer Sharif but there is a possibility that the trip may also provide an opportunity for talks between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Zardari.
When contacted, presidential spokesman Senator Farhatullah Babar through a text message confirmed that the President Asif Ali Zardari was planing to make a brief visit to India in the coming week.
"Yes, President Zardari's visit to Ajmer Sharif is on the cards. It is a private not a state visit and date and details regarding the visit are being finalised...[while] the date for his departure is yet to be announced," he added.
According to sources, the visit is purely private, during which he only wants to visit the shrine of Ajmer Sharif but New Delhi may be open to adding political colour to the visit.
"We want to keep it [visit] less ceremonial and political but both formal and informal channels are open and as it happens often in the India-Pakistan relationship, many decisions are likely to be taken closer to the event," said an official.