The prime minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, Sardar Sikandar Hayat, and other senior politicians hugged the leaders as they arrived in this town near the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between Indian and Pakistani Kashmir.

A police band played national tunes while a crowd released pigeons and hundreds of multi-coloured balloons.

The Indian Kashmir leaders walked across the Kaman Bridge on the Jhelum river, which forms part of the LoC, and then drove to Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-administered zone of Kashmir.

The entire 58-kilometre (36-mile) route from Chakothi to Muzaffarabad was decorated with welcoming bunting and banners.

The visit of nine moderate leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), the main separatist umbrella group engaged in a 15-year campaign against Indian rule in Kashmir, is their first to the Pakistani zone.

The trip is part of a peace process between India and Pakistan to end a bitter dispute over divided Kashmir, the Himalayan region that has sparked two of three wars between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

Delegation member Bilal Gani Lone said he was happy and excited to be in the Pakistan portion of Kashmir.

"There is a hope and today's journey is the first step," he said.

"Let us hope this first step brings peace and best hopes for the people of India, Pakistan and especially the people of Kashmir," he said.

"The visit shows that both India and Pakistan have realised that involvement of Kashmiris is essential in resolving the dispute between the two countries," a senior Hurriyat leader, Moulvi Abbas Ansari, said.

Another Kashmir leader, Fazlul Haq Qureshi, said: "We are in our home. We are among our brothers. We wish success to the peace process".

The Hurriyat leaders will hold talks with the political leadership in Pakistani Kashmir on Friday.

"The visit is a major breakthrough in the ongoing efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue," said Raja Farooq, political advisor to the state government here.