The reconciliation followed a visit to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s headquarters here late last night by Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

“We have forgiven each other and also pardoned our enemies. We will not take our revenge on the people. . . we will avenge ourselves by changing the system,” he said.

Zardari and Altaf Hussain, the Lonon-based MQM chief, vowed to begin a “new journey” for the sake of Pakistan after “pardoning” each other for the bitterness of the past.

The MQM, which largely draws its support from migrants from undivided India, and the PPP have been rivals for long in the southern Sindh province, particularly in urban centres like Karachi and Hyderabad.

He MQM was a part of the previous coalition government that was seen as pro-Musharraf, though its MPs supported the PPP when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani sought a vote of confidence in parliament.

Hussain, in a telephonic address from London, said: “Today we have started a new journey. We have forgiven PPP and they have pardoned us. We will work jointly to eliminate the urban-rural divide and for the rights of oppressed people to make Sindh prosperous.”

The patching up with the PPP could lead to the MQM’s inclusion in Gillani’s coalition government as well as the provincial government to be formed in Sindh by the PPP.

Reports have suggested that the MQM could get three federal and five provincial ministries despite reservations expressed by former premier Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N, a key player in the coalition at the centre.

Before going to the MQM’s headquarters, Zardari went to the Azizabad cemetery to offer prayers at the graves of Hussain’s brother and nephew who were killed in Karachi while the PPP was in power.