Egypt's Morsi to visit Pakistan, India next week

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is due to visit Pakistan early next week, a Pakistani official said Saturday, the first visit to the country by an Egyptian head of state in decades, dpa reported.

Morsi is scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said.

"President Morsi's visit is expected to impart dynamism to the bilateral ties and to expand, diversify and strengthen relations between the two countries in all spheres," Chaudhry added.

The two leaders are also expected to sign several agreements, the official added, without giving any details.

Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, had earlier planned to travel to Pakistan in November for a summit of Islamic states.

But the trip was called off because of his involvement in negotiations over a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza.