Lal Krishna Advani, the deputy prime minister, wound up a 16-day, 4,125-kilometre (2,480-mile) trip in a bullet-proof mini-bus at Amritsar, near the Pakistani border, where he and Vajpayee addressed some 20,000 people.

"Let's talk about Kashmir and settle that. That is the only way the problem can be resolved. There is no other way out," Vajpayee said amid a sea of saffron and green flags of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"I have said many a time to Pakistan, we have fought many wars and what have you gained out of it?" Vajpayee said.

"You have not gained anything and you lost Bangladesh," he said. Friday is the 34th independence anniversary of Bangladesh, which broke away from Pakistan in a bloody nine-month war backed by India.

India's cricket team is touring Pakistan, which would have been unthinkable two years ago as the nuclear-capable neighbours looked on the verge of another war over disputed Kashmir.

"When bullets used to fly, now we're playing cricket," Vajpayee said. "To play you need two teams -- two countries -- with similar mindsets."

Vajpayee and Advani wore traditional Sikh turbans at the rally in Amritsar, which hosts the Sikh religion's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple.

The BJP is widely tipped to win the election, which is taking place in five rounds from April 20 to May 10, on the back of Vajpayee's personal popularity and strong economic growth triggered by a healthy monsoon.

Advani, who is often mentioned as a successor to the 79-year-old Vajpayee, has tried to show a softer side to the BJP on his tour, surrounding himself at the start by Muslim leaders.