ISLAMABAD, March 4 Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf is scheduled to leave for India on Friday to attend a two-day conclave organised by India Today.

The former president will be the first high-profile Pakistani to visit India after the Mumbai terrorist attacks which shook the world in November last year.

A close Musharraf aide said that the retired general would take an aggressive stand in lectures, interviews and meetings in India.

This year's theme of the conclave is 'Challenges of Change'. The conclave's website says that renowned personalities like Dominique De Villepin, Garry Kasparov, Dalai Lama, Omar Abdullah, Pranab Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan will be among the speakers.

Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf is also likely to visit the prestigious Aligarh University and deliver a lecture there.

In an informal chat with Dawn last month, the retired general had said he would take on Indians in their own land.

Despite facing the ire of his bitter political rivals, the retired general still occupies the army house and is enjoying the company of his new pets.

In recent photograph, shared with Dawn, he is seen in a track suit playing with German shepherd.

“It's an interesting transition from cuddly Russian dogs to the ferocious German shepherd that signifies the change Musharraf has undergone from a reluctant coup-maker to an all-powerful dictator,” said a senior journalist who has been observing Musharraf for some time.