ISLAMABAD, Dec. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday for a one-day visit to Pakistan, the state-run PTV reported.

    Cheney, who represented the United States at the opening session of Afghanistan's parliament on Monday, flew to Islamabad from Kabul to assess reconstruction efforts in earthquake-ravaged Pakistan, PTV reported.

    Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri received Cheney on his arrival at the military Chaklala air base.

    Cheney did not talk to the media who had been invited to the air base for a press encounter.

    Soon after his arrival at the Chaklala air base, Cheney was flown in a US military helicopter to the presidential house for a meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

    According to PTV, Cheney will travel to quake-devastated Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, later on Tuesday.

    There was high security alert at the air base on the occasion of Cheney's arrival, PTV said. Both the US and Pakistani security men were present at the air base.

    Cheney is the second top US leader to visit quake-hit Pakistan since the Oct. 8 earthquake. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unscheduled stop in earthquake-ravaged Pakistan on Oct. 12 and assessed the country's earthquake-relief needs. Enditem