New Delhi, November 21
While India today took the first formal step towards establishing a full-fledged embassy in Afghanistan by setting up a liaison office in Kabul, at least three more countries — the UK, Russia and Iran — have also initiated a similar move.

A plane-load of Indian diplomats and other personnel landed at the Bagram airfield near Kabul this morning, marking the resumption of diplomatic process between Kabul and New Delhi which got disrupted on September 26, 1996, when the Taliban had seized power.

The 41-member contingent also included medical and paramedical staff, security officials, interpreters and senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Mr Gobind Mukhopadhyaya, an IFS officer of the 1980 batch, heads the Indian liaison cell, being considered a precursor to the establishment of a full-fledged diplomatic mission in the near future.

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, in his brief statement in Rajya Sabha today, said this was the first Indian diplomatic mission to Kabul since September 26, 1996.

In an effort to make its diplomatic presence felt in diverse and crucial areas of Afghanistan, India has sent its Ambassador to Iran, Mr P. S. Hair, a Sikh, to Mazar-i-Sharif while dispatching Mr Bhaskar Mitra, its envoy to Tajikistan, to Herat, an important province of Afghanistan bordering Iran.

The special Indian aircraft that landed at the Bagram airfield this morning also carried such officials as Mr Arun Singh, Special Assistant to External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, and Mr S. K. Lambah, India’s specially-designated envoy on all issues pertaining to Afghanistan. Mr Arun Singh has already taken the oath of secrecy and is considered to be Mr Jaswant Singh’s pointman.

While Mr Arun Singh and Mr Lambah returned here tonight, Mr Mukhopadhyaya is to stay on in Kabul till such time as the full-fledged diplomatic mission starts functioning.

Major international powers like the USA, the UK, Russia and Iran have already taken cognisance of the fall of the Taliban and are in close touch with the Northern Alliance.

While the USA has so far not made any efforts to resume its diplomatic ties with Kabul, it is contributing significantly to the Alliance forces in a different but subtle way. According to well-placed sources here, about 150 CIA agents are in Afghanistan. Known as Special Activities Staff, the CIA agents are in Kabul and close to Kandahar in small groups and are advising the NA forces on military and strategic matters.

In another development, the United Kingdom sent its Foreign Office specialist on Afghanistan, Mr Stephen Evans, to Kabul on November 19 to prepare the base for setting up diplomatic relations with Kabul. The last British Ambassador to Kabul left in 1979, while the last Charge d’ Affaires left Kabul in 1989.