New Delhi: The Aga Khan, spiritual leader of Shia Ismaili Muslims, will arrive here on May 12 on a seven-day, four-city visit to India.

He will be in the capital for two days, during which he will meet President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Leader of Opposition L K Advani.

The Aga Khan will then move on to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Ahmedabad and leave for Dhaka on May 19, the Ministry of External Affairs said here. The visit marks the Aga Khan's 50th year as imam of over 25 million Shia Ismailis worldwide.

The 70-year-old leader - also known as Prince Karim Aga Khan IV - succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan - at age 20 in 1957, becoming the community's 49th imam. The Aga Khan last visited India in September 2006, when he laid the foundation of the Aga Khan Academy for Excellence in Education in Hyderabad. Earlier, in 2004 the spiritual leader gave away the Aga Khan Award for Architecture at a presentation ceremony at Humayun's Tomb here.

Source : IANS