Berlin: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee arrived in Germany on May 27 on the first leg of his three- nation tour that will seek to strengthen bilateral ties with Germany and provide an opportunity to interact with world's top leaders during an informal G-8 summit in France.

On arrival at Tegel airport, Vajpayee, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation including External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Jaitely, was accorded a red carpet welcome. A formal reception with military honour will be given on May 28 by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

The Prime Minister has a hectic schedule on May 28 when he will meet Schroder, who will host a lunch for him.

Bilateral, political and economic ties will come up for review during the meeting.

Prime Minister is also expected to brief the Chancellor on his latest peace initiative with Pakistan.

He will also meet other German leaders including Foreign and Defence Ministers.

On May 29, accompanied by Sinha and Jaitley, the Prime Minister will travel to Munich, the hub of German industry, where he will meet leaders of industry and commerce.

Vajpayee will fly to St Petersburg on May 30 to participate in the tercentenary celebrations of the cultural capital of Russia.

US President George W Bush, British Premier Tony Blair and Chinese President Hu Jintao will be among the host of world leaders attending the function.

In Evian in France, Prime Minister is among the select non-G-8 leaders invited by French President Jacques Chirac to attend an informal summit on June 1, ahead of the G-8 summit on June 2 and 3.

During his stay in St Petersburg and in Evian, he is expected to have bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders including Jintao, Putin and Blair.

PTI