Pakistan PM prays at 13th-century Muslim shrine in India

AJMER, India, March 9 (AFP) - Pakistan's premier Raja Pervez Ashraf today prayed at a 13th-century Muslim shrine in northern India on a lightning one-day visit in which politics was kept off the agenda.

Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid earlier hosted a lunch for Ashraf at the Rambagh Palace, a luxury heritage hotel in the tourist city of Jaipur, and said he was welcoming the Pakistani leader with "open arms", 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, adding controversial topics such as alleged sponsorship of crossborder militancy by Pakistan were not discussed at the lunch.

"Today it was a private visit. There were no official talks. We will do it at the appropriate time," Khurshid said.

On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament ties between the South Asian neighbours could improve only if Pakistan shunned its alleged support to "the terror machine" of crossborder militancy.

Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India since independence from Britain in 1947, rejects New Delhi's charges it supports militant attacks on Indian soil.

After the luncheon meeting, Ashraf, whose government's term ends on March 16, flew to the shrine in Ajmer, 130 kilometers (80 miles) from Jaipur.

Ashraf and his family prayed at the revered shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz and was slated to return to Islamabad later Saturday.

Ashraf was 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 Singh.

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.