Nitish Kumar, who will be visiting Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore during the goodwill visit, has left for New Delhi and will leave for Pakistan from there. He heads an 11 member delegation of ministers and officials in the Nov 9-16 visit, an official in the chief minister's office said.

"Nitish Kumar is keen to visit the sites of the Indus Valley Civilisation, Mohenjodaro and Harappa, during the trip," he added.

A Pakistani delegation had visited Bihar in August and extended Nitish Kumar an invitation on behalf of Pakistani Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

This is only Nitish Kumar's fourth visit abroad in his seven years as chief minister.

He visited Mauritius in his first tenure in 2008. In his second tenure, he visited Bhutan and China to explore investments and promote tourism in Bihar.