Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president L.K. Advani Monday described his visit to Pakistan as "an unforgettable week in my life" and said he would welcome a debate on his remarks praising Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah that have irked Hindu hardliners.

"I heard that my remarks on Muhammad Ali Jinnah have become a point of discussion here. I do not mind a debate on the issue. I want people to discuss the issue," Advani told reporters at Indira Gandhi International Airport on his arrival from the historic tour during which he visited Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

Hindu hardliners, especially the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have taken strong exception to his reported comments lauding Jinnah for his espousal of secularism and Hindu-Muslim unity.

Both the organisations have demanded the resignation of Advani as party chief for dissociating himself from their concept of 'Akanda Bharat' (Undivided India) as he had said that the emergence of both India and Pakistan as separate sovereign nations was an "unalterable reality of history".

Advani, known for his earlier hardline stance on Pakistan, had left for Islamabad May 30 along with his entire family on what he said would be a trip down memory lane for him as he was born in Karachi in then undivided India 78 years ago.

He said the trip had resulted in taking the peace process between the two countries forward and making years of strife and tension a thing of the past.

"Everyone there said your government took the initiative to start the peace process between the two countries. We should take this process forward. I agreed. The point of my trip was to stress on this," he said, talking to reporters outside the arrival terminal where he was welcomed by a battery of BJP leaders and some activists.

"Whatever differences there may be between the government and the opposition, what's best for the people of India and Pakistan is that the years of strife and tension be made a chapter of the past," he said.

"The purpose of visit was to carry on the process started by the NDA ( BJP-led National Democratic Alliance) government and I  am very satisfied," he said adding that the people of Pakistan appreciated that the new Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has been forwarding the process.

Karachi-born Advani, who earlier termed the visit as nostalgic said his trip was "a warm feeling of sentimentalism."

"It was an unforgettable week in my life," he said. Advani also visited his native place and his alma mater, St. Patrick's School, in Karachi.

Advani and his family, who included his wife, daughter, son and daughter-in-law, were welcomed by BJP vice presidents M. Venkaiah Naidu, Mukthar Abbas Naqvi, Rajnath Singh, Bihar unit president Sushil Kumar Modi, former minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Delhi BJP leaders and scores of activities who waved party flags and raised slogans greeting him for "carrying the message of peace and harmony" to Pakistan.

RSS and VHP leaders and activists were conspicuous by their absence at the airport.

Hindu Jagran Manch posters were seen at the airport saying: "Jinnah Samarthhak, Pakistan Premi, Vapas Jao" (Jinnah supporter, Lover of Pakistan, Go Back." The posters were later torn off.