Pakistani authorities are preparing to unveil the red carpet for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L.K. Advani, a man once seen as a "Hindu hardliner", when he goes to that country for a week from Monday.

It will be a trip down the memory lane as the 77-year-old Advani will visit his place of birth and his school in Karachi, a bustling port city where he was initiated into Hindu rightwing politics just before Indian independence in 1947.

Advani, one of India's best known politicians today, will call on Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who like many Pakistanis has traditionally seen the BJP veteran as bitterly anti-Pakistan, besides also going to Lahore.

But the highlight of his eight-day visit - his second to Pakistan since 1979 when he was information and broadcasting minister - would be his journey to that part of Karachi where he was born Nov 8, 1927, and the St. Patrick's High School. He had gone to the school in 1979 too.

When Advani steps in, the school will be decked up and it will reportedly gift its famous alumni a memorable album carrying his pictures with his teachers and some of his old certificates.

Advani was born in the Sindh provincial capital, and joined the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) shortly before India's independence in 1947 when his family, like millions like him, quit the newly created Pakistan to begin life anew.

And although it will be Advani's second visit to his alma mater, it will be a memorable one, his aides say.

"In 1979 Advani was a virtual non-entity in Pakistan. From a non-entity, today he is the most sought after man in Pakistan. That is the crucial difference," a BJP spokesman told IANS.

After his schooling, Advani went to the D.G. National College at Hyderabad, also in Sindh province, before partition forced him to continue his studies in Mumbai.

Pakistan newspapers say the local government and old neighbours of the family at Shahi Bazzar had renovated his former house and were eagerly waiting for him.

An Advani Ghitti (Street) still exists in the area where the Advanis lived till 1947.

Originally, the upcoming trip was to be a personal visit. But the Pakistan government extended him a formal invitation, turning it into an official trip.

And Advani is looking forward to it.

Said Seshadri Chari, a BJP national executive member: "A trip by the leader of the opposition is more important than a junior minister's. He will represent the country and the continuation of the foreign policy."

Chari said Advani had desired to see Karachi for a long time.

"It was a long time dream for him. He always wanted to go back to his native place," Chari said.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said Advani had inquired about his school and its teachers during the April cricket match between India and Pakistan.

Advani will also go to a temple on his way from Islamabad to Lahore.

Besides Musharraf, Advani will also hold talks with Kasuri, at whose invitation the trip is taking place, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and opposition leaders.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday briefed Advani about the ongoing India-Pakistan peace process.

After the 20-minute meeting, Advani said: "I consider this trip as an important link in the ongoing peace process initiated by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee."