Mr. Gautam Mukhopadhaya has taken over as the new ambassador to Afghanistan today. He belongs to the 1980 batch of Indian Foreign Services (IFS) and was the Indian ambassador to Syria earlier. <br/><br/>Mr. Mukhopadhaya had a short stint in Afghanistan earlier in 2001-02 when Indian mission was reopened after overthrow of Taliban rule. He has also served in Mexico, France and New York.<br/><br/>