NEW DELHI, Feb 28: Pakistan's cricket team flew into India amid tight security on Monday for their first full tour across the border since 1999, determined to win matches on the field and friends off it.

"We are here to win and make new friends," captain Inzamamul Haq told a press conference at the start of the 50-day tour which includes three Tests and six one-day internationals. "I have always enjoyed playing here because people are crazy about cricket. I am not worried about security. My only concern is how my team plays on the tour."

The 16-man squad and the support staff, led by coach Bob Woolmer, arrived at the heavily guarded Indira Gandhi airport in the Indian capital by a Pakistan International flight from Lahore.

Gun-toting commandoes kept a strict vigil as the tourists were whisked off in buses to their downtown hotel. The 10-kilometre (6.2-mile) route from the airport to the hotel was dotted with security personnel in uniform and plainclothes.

Hindu fundamentalists have threatened to disrupt the tour in protest at what they say is Pakistani support to militancy in the disputed region of Kashmir. On their previous visit in 1999, Pakistan drew the two-Test series 1-1 and won the Asian Test championship match in Calcutta.

Inzamam, who turns 35 on Thursday, hoped his team would provide an encore. "I am quite confident that we will do well again," he said. "Ours is a young team that has a lot of promise. If we play to our potential there is no reason why we can't do well."

Inzamam said the Indian tour was "definitely easier" than the one to Australia earlier in the season when Pakistan were blanked 3-0 by the world champions and also lost the one-day finals.

"The slow wickets in India are quite similar to the ones we have at home, it will be easier for both the batsmen and bowlers to adjust quickly," he said. "In Australia, by the time we got used to the conditions there, the tour was over."

The Pakistan captain dismissed suggestions that India would hold the advantage playing at home. "It works both ways," he said. "There will be a lot of pressure on the Indians from fans who always expect you to win at home. Maybe we can use this to our advantage.

"We may be missing our main strike bowler Shoaib Akhtar due to injury, but there are others who can fit the bill very well. "A lot will depend on how our batsmen perform. We have to put runs on the board."

The Pakistanis will stay overnight in New Delhi before boarding a chartered aircraft on Tuesday morning for Dharamshala, the northern hill resort where the three-day tour opener against the Indian board president's team starts on Thursday.

The first Test begins in the northern town of Mohali on March 8 followed by back-to-back Tests in Calcutta and Bangalore. The one-day internationals will be played from April 2 at Cochin, Visakhapatnam, Jamshedpur, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and New Delhi.

Cricket ties between the warring neighbours, disrupted since 2000 due to political tensions, were revived in March last year when India toured Pakistan for their first Test series since 1989. India won both the Test and one-day series on the path breaking tour.

PAKISTAN SQUAD: Inzamamul Haq (capt), Younis Khan (vice-capt), Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Taufeeq Umar, Yousuf Youhana, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal (wicket-keeper), Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Arshad Khan, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Sami, Rana Navedul Hasan, Mohammad Khalil.