ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: Two top communist leaders from India now visiting Pakistan are due to arrive here on Monday. Harkishan Singh Surjeet and A.B. Bardhan, secretaries- general, respectively, of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India , are expected to meet President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and other political figures.

The two communist leaders will be the guests of honour at a reception to be hosted by the South Asian Free Media Association at 5.30pm (Monday) at Marriott Hotel.

Irfan Maqbool adds: The visit of the leadership of India's two main Communist parties has generated a great deal of activity in both government and leftist circles in the country.

This is the first time since partition that Indian communist leaders are visiting Pakistan. The visit is also significant because India's two biggest communist parties have traditionally had major disagreements and their joint visit signifies an important step in the reconciliation between them.

The irony of the visit is obvious. On the one hand, the delegation was received by leftist groups in Pakistan who remain on the political margins and continue to vehemently oppose the state and its imperialist-friendly posture. The delegation will meet leftist groups in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad and ostensibly express solidarity with the small movement in the country.

On the other hand, the delegation will meet top government functionaries in Islamabad over a two-day period.

"This apparent contradiction reflects the almost diametrically opposed position of the left in the two countries," says Aasim Sajjad, convener of the People's Rights Movement.

"While in India the left has maintained a strong presence in the political mainstream, in Pakistan it has always struggled to survive in a suffocating political environment.

The Pakistani left has declined significantly since the end of the cold war, he says. During the cold war, Pakistan remained a close ally of the United States while India was more partial towards the Soviet Union. The left in India has actually gained in recent years, garnering the largest share of votes in its history in the 2004 general election.

The current speaker of India's lower house of parliament is a communist. "While we recognize that the Indian comrades will meet state functionaries, we do expect them to express their commitment to radical political and social upheaval in Pakistan including the removal of the army from politics," says Zahoor Ahmed, deputy general secretary of the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party.