Rowan Williams arrived in Pakistan on Tuesday, the British High Commission said, and visited a camp on the outskirts of the capital Islamabad Wednesday for refugees left homeless by the October 8 disaster.

Pakistani officials said Williams met President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday and was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz later Wednesday.

"This is a crucial time to be visiting Pakistan," Williams said in a statement.

"I know that there are many concerns about those who may have survived the recent earthquake but whose future is still threatened by the onset of extremely cold weather conditions," he said.

"I hope to learn about the things being done to transfer aid to people in the direst of needs."

The 7.6-magnitude quake killed more than 73,000 people in Pakistan and 1,300 in India. It also left more than three million people homeless with winter fast approaching.

Williams' visit also comes just over a week after a Muslim mob in eastern Pakistan torched churches over allegations that a Christian had desecrated the Koran, the Islamic holy book.

"This is also a very important time for Pakistan's faith communities -- the good relations between Christians and Muslims in many parts of the UK and in Pakistan provide a platform for building further and for eradicating mistrust and misunderstanding," Williams said in his statement.

The churchman is due to visit the Islamic University of Islamabad and meet Muslim students, scholars and leaders before he leaves Pakistan on Tuesday.

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