KABUL, Feb 15 (UNI): After much confusion and initial announcement that the Afghanistan-leg of the three-nation two-day visit was cancelled due to bad weather in Kabul, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh arrived here today after the airport was declared fit for landing.
Initially, Singh's day-long visit to Kabul was called off as the airport was closed due to heavy snow and the aircraft took off from New Delhi for Islamabad.
However, officials later said the Kabul airport had been cleared and was fit for landing.
Subsequently the flight was diverted midair to Kabul, official sources said.
The sources said some of Singh's officials engagements have been cancelled due to the delay in his arrival.
The External Affairs Minister took off from Delhi at 1100 hrs two-and-a-half-hours behind schedule.
Singh drove to Afghan President Hamid Karzai's office from the airport.
The External Affairs Minister's one-on-one meeting with his Afghan counterpart Abdullah Abdullah has been cancelled but they will meet for a working lunch to hold talks.
The meeting with former Afghan King Zaheer Shah and Vice Presidents Ahmed Zia and Karim Khalili have also been cancelled.
Singh will go ahead with original itinerary of attend a ceremony to hand over 49 vehicles donated by India to the Afghan National Army and handing over of the newly rehabilitated surgical block of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health.
He will also interact with the Indian community in the country.
Singh will later fly to Islamabad in the evening for talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri on furthering the composite dialogue process between the two countries.
The visit to Pakistan is the first bilateral visit at the Foreign Ministers level after 1989.
India is currently among the front runners assisting Afghanistan.
It has made considerable donations to Afghanistan in the fields of transportation and aviation, power and telecommunications, education and health sectors.