Kabul, August 28
Very heavy American security was placed around Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh soon after he arrived in Kabul on a two-day official visit, the first by an Indian head of Government to the Afghan capital in 29 years. Indira Gandhi was the last Indian Prime Minister to visit Kabul in 1976.

The Prime Minister and his entourage were accorded a warm ceremonial reception at the airport and were received by Afghanistan's Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak.

Kabul(Afghanistan), August 28
Just 24 hours before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was to land in Kabul, the Afghan authorities apprehended a suicidal bomber in a place called Zabul in Shahisawa District, not too far away from Kabul.

According to Afghan sources, the suicide bomber whose name is Abdul Halim is from Karachi District in Pakistan. He had arrived in Zabul 20 days ago and his task was to create mayhem during Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to Afghanistan.

Kabul, August 28
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Sunday visited the Bagh-e-Babar complex in Kabul which houses the tomb and mosque of the 16th century Mughal ruler, Babar.

Accompanied by his entourage of officials, the Prime Minister paid homage to a larger-than -life monarch who ruled over a considerable part of northern India from 1526 to 1530.

Babar was born in Ferghana in present-day Uzbekistan in 1483. After spending many years in Kabul,he invaded India in 1525-26 and defeated the local ruler Ibrahim Lodhi at the First Battle of Panipat, which is not far from Delhi. He sent his son Humayun Mirza on to Agra to capture the Lodhi capital. Babar, travelling from Panipat to Agra, installed himself in the Lodhi citadel of Agra and declared himself Emperor of Hindustan.

Kabul, August 28
No rules, no lights, no cops. That's by and large the rules for drivers on Kabul's roads...If you can call them roads, that is. There are affluent neighbourhoods but no roads leading to them. Just cart roads where horse drawn carts and cars jostle for space. Residents say all this has happened in the last two years when affluence and people returned to the capital. The flip side is that a journey that took a mere 10 minutes can take anywhere from 20-40 minutes.

Around the Presidential Palace and the American Embassy the security is tight, traffic is controlled and barricades are all in place. Not many can get around to these parts of Kabul. Rest of Kabul is confusion, chaos, smog and blaring horns. This city desperately needs traffic policing and a public transport system that works. India, Iran and Japan have donated buses but there is an urgent need for more but before that Kabul needs construction of roads and traffic crossings.