President Bush saluted a new era of friendship and economic co-operation between the United States and India today, declaring that the world's two largest democracies were "closer than ever before".

Mr Bush made the comments at the end of a three-day visit to India that saw a landmark agreement yesterday under which India will be able to import Western technology and fuel for its fast-growing nuclear power programme.

The visit to India provoked multiple protests by Indian Muslims and leftists angered by the US-led invasion of Iraq. Three people were killed today in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, when dozens of armed Muslims tried to force Hindu shopkeepers to join an anti-Bush protest and shut their stores.

But Mr Bush faces the prospect of much more widespread demonstrations when he touches in down in Pakistan tonight for the final leg of his South Asian tour.

Although Pakistan is seen as a key ally in the War on Terror, anti-Americanism runs deep and the country was virtually paralysed today when Islamist parties called a nationwide strike. Mr Bush's arrival comes one day after a suicide bomb attack on the US consulate in Karachi which killed three people, including a US diplomat.

Today's Islamist strike was called in protest against caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published by a Danish newspaper, but demonstrators turned their ire on America and Denmark in equal measure.

Police swung their batons to push back around 1,000 protesters in the city of Rawalpindi, only a few miles from where Mr Bush was expected to touch down in Air Force One later tonight. The demonstrators were supporters of a Shia Muslim student group.

White House officials said that the President was determined that his first visit to Pakistan would not be derailed by yesterday's violence. "At this point people are comfortable that the necessary precautions are in place but this is not a risk-free undertaking," Stephen Hadley, the White House National Security Adviser, said in New Delhi.

Mr Bush's official schedule in Pakistan starts tomorrow when he holds talks with President Pervez Musharraf, focusing on terror-related issues and attempts to dismantle al-Qaeda.

But before leaving India, Mr Bush said that his objectives for the trip went beyond merely thanking Pakistan for its support in the battle against al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

"I will meet with President Musharraf to discuss Pakistan’s vital co-operation in the war on terror and our efforts to foster economic and political development so we can reduce the appeal of radical Islam," Mr Bush said in a speech at New Delhi's 16th century Old Fort.

He also gave some reason for Pakistani opposition groups to hope that Washington will push Mr Musharraf, who came to power in a military coup seven years ago, to move faster to strengthen democratic institutions ahead of a general election next year.

"I believe that a democratic, prosperous Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbour for India and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world," he said. A White House official said later that he had meant to say "Muslim world".

Mr Bush has also said that he will press his Pakistani counterpart to do more to shut down militant camps on Pakistani soil and to stop cross-border infiltration into Afghanistan.

Karachi, a southern port city that is Pakistan's commercial hub, was calm although two rallies were planned for later in the day. Buses were kept of the roads and many businesses shut their doors.

Pakistani officials said that FBI agents have joined the probe into the suicide car bomb attack outside the US consulate there, where the diplomat, David Foy, and his driver were killed along with a paramilitary trooper and the bomber.

Mr Hadley said that the attack was "a reminder that we’re at war, and that Pakistan is both an ally in the War on Terror and in some sense a battleground in the War on Terror".

Despite the protests, Mr Bush's first visit to India appears largely to have achieved its objectives, both strategic and economic.

"The United States and India, separated by half the globe, are closer than ever before, and the partnership between our two nations has the power to transform the world," Mr Bush said today.

Earlier today, Mr Bush flew south to the city of Hyderabad, a high-tech hub of the Indian economy, using the occasion to talk up the benefits of global trade and defend the outsourcing of thousands of American jobs to India.

Outsourcing and software exports are forecast to earn India more than $20 billion in the current financial year, 60 per cent of it coming from the United States, which has a large and successful Indian diaspora.

The President said that he would resist protectionist calls in Washington, but in return India had to continue to lift its caps on foreign investments, reduce tariffs and open its market to American agricultural and industrial products and services.

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