Saturday, July 9 2005 15:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan's intelligence agencies have opposed President Pervez Musharraf's proposal to open the country to religious tourists from India, especially to visit ancient Hindu temples, saying such a move could undermine the two-nation theory that led to partition.

Intelligence officials have raised objections to promote religious tourism from India as a Confidence Building Measure (CBM) at a Tourism Ministry meeting here last month, a media report said.

"They opposed the proposal on the ground that allowing Indian pilgrims to visit historical and religious sites in Pakistan would undermine the rationale of creating Pakistan," it quoted an intelligence official as saying.

The idea of religious tourism has been mooted as one of the 98 CBMs that were discussed by the two countries during the current round of peace process.

"Recently Gen. Musharraf has shown willingness to let the idea materialise. But several (intelligence) agencies have strongly opposed Musharraf's decision," the official was quoted by 'Friday Times' as saying.

The meeting was called by the Tourism Ministry to deliberate on Musharraf's decision before going public on it, the weekly said adding it had to be adjourned due to unexpected objections from the agency officials.

The report said Musharraf had approved the summary on the subject prepared by the Tourism Ministry saying, "It could lead to a rise in revenue in the shape of foreign exchange reserves from the Hindu pilgrims visiting Pakistan."

BJP President L K Advani recently visited Pakistan to lay the foundation stone for the restoration of the ancient Hindu temples in the country.