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Kabul attack not a detterant for Indian mission
Published on Sun, Jul 20, 2008 at 01:14, Updated at Sun, Jul 20, 2008 in World » Neighbours section
Tags: Kabul Blast, India , Kabul
A SPIRIT UNDETERRED: No Indian in Afghanistan has asked for a posting back to India.
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Explosion rocks Sri Lanka capital Colombo, wounds 44
The blast occurred in a busy commercial area in Colombo.
Kabul: At a memorial service in Kabul, Afghan diplomats and politicians joined their Indian counterparts to honour those who died in the attack.
Four of those killed - Defence Attache Brigadier R D Mehta, Counsellor V Rao and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel Ajai Rathore and Roop Singh - have been awarded the Kirti Chakra, India's second-highest peacetime gallantry medal.
Afghan Defence Minister, Abdul Rahim Wardak said that the incident was a sad one indeed.
"So many lives have been wasted, so many hopes have been vanquished and so many dreams have ended," he said.
Meanwhile, Afghan cabinet ministers have made an aggressive pitch for rooting out terror from the region. They want terror bases, recruitment hubs and financial links - that have enabled the Taliban and al-Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan - to be targetted.
Afghanistan Foreign Minister, Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta says, "The terrorist enemy behind this operation cannot be defended by military operation inside Afghanistan."
India's increasing involvement in strategic infrastructure projects in Afghanistan has Pakistan's ISI worried.
India has invested over Rs 3,248 crore in aid, half of which is going into building a transmission line to provide power to Kabul, a hydel project in Herat, Afghanistan's new parliament, and the vital Zaranj-Delaram road that will give landlocked Afghanistan access to the sea through Iran.
Afghanistan National Security Adviser, Dr Zalmay Rasoul says, "I think this unfortunate attack was attack on Aghan-Indian friendship. Since 2001, India has been at the forefront of helping Afghanistan to rebuild itself."
The intensity of the blast - which blew away the front facade of the Indian embassy building - left everyone in no doubt that if the bomber had managed to get in, then the entire building would have collapsed.
An eyewitness, Mohammad Omar says, "We heard an explosion, the dust covered us, and then we saw dead bodies everywhere."
The Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy, Sandeep Kumar, took CNN-IBN through the nightmare of Kabul's worst bombing since 2001
"A corolla car was carrying 80-100 kgs of very potent explosives. It blew itself up and made a crater. The explosion took place just when our embassy car, a Land Cruiser, was entering the gates. Three of those who died were in the car, including the driver. We have put this personal tragedy behind us and put up a professional front so that we can show the world it is business as usual and that we refuse to be cowed down and that it is business as usual in Afghanistan for us," Kumar stated.
Just a day after the blast, Sandeep Kumar was taking part in a body building contest in Kabul just to show his Afghan hosts that the blasts had not dented his morale or that of his colleagues. He was the runner up in the contest.
Sandeep Kumar says, "In recognition of what had happened, I was awarded a choupan - the highest symbol of friendship between the two countries."
Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy is getting on with business. Visa applications are once again being processed, and stamped on Indian passports.
Indian Ambassador to Kabul, Jayant Prasad says, "We provide 500 slots annually for Afghan public servants to train in technical institutions in India. We provide 500 university scholarships to under graduate and post graduate courses for Afghan students."
The Afghans are queuing up for an Indian visa, a sign of the tremendous goodwill India has generated in Afghanistan through its comprehensive humanitarian and development aid.
Construction is on at a feverish pace and Afghan workers have a deadline to meet - August 15, India's Independence Day, when the Embassy will have a spanking new look.
Meanwhile, nobody in the Indian missions or those involved in infrastructure projects has asked for a posting back to India - a clear message to those behind the terror attack.
Jayant Prasad says, "All of my colleagues have volunteered to come here. All of them are aware of the professional hazards that exist here and the committment to work, the committment to stay and the committment to rebuild the embassy is very strong among each and every one of my colleagues."
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