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Syrian Foreign Minister ends “productive” trip to India
January 14, 2016, 6:08 am

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on 12 January 2016 [Image: MEA, India]

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on 12 January 2016 [Image: MEA, India]

The Syrian government has sought economic aid from India even as the International Committee of the Red Cross urged all side to end sieges being carried out across the country “because of overwhelming humanitarian needs.”

Syrian deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem ended a 4-day visit to India on Thursday.

During his trip, he held talks with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and India’s National Security Advisor.  Moualem said during talks with Indian leaders “the decades-long relations between the two countries were discussed”.

Damasacus has asked for economic aid especially in terms of food grains and medicines as the war-hit country battles sanctions imposed by the West.

“We have had productive discussion with the external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and the NSA. We discussed a range of issues including sharing of intelligence. We have also asked for economic aid from India,” Moualem told Indian media adding that during meetings he perceived Delhi’s readiness to meet the needs of the Syrian people.

“Terrorism does not know any boundary. My discussion with the External Affairs Minister of India Sushma Swaraj reflected that our views on important issues converge and that is why greater security cooperation between two sides is underway,” he added.

He also lauded India’s BRICS partner Russia for its cooperation with Syrian saying the work done by it in combating terrorism was much more than what has been done by the US-led coalition in 18 months.
“We’re beginning to see terrorism backfiring on the states that supported it like France and the United States, and yesterday Turkey, and before that Saudi Arabia,” the Syrian Foreign Minister said on Wednesday.
Russia began airstrikes in the country last September to shore up the Syrian government’s fight against terrorism including the Islamic State group.
India alongwith the other BRICS countries have been opposed to the ousting of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as well as to the arming Syrian rebels by the US.

World powers including Russia and US agreed on a peace process that would attempt to bring stakeholders in Syria’s five-year-conflict to the negotiating table on Jan. 25 in an effort to find a resolution to a civil war that has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced half the country’s population.

High-level US, Russian, UN and other diplomats met behind closed doors in Geneva this week to discuss efforts to those talks.

On Tuesday earlier this week, Syrian opposition coordinator Riad Hijab criticised the US for what the group described as “very clear backtracking with regard to the agenda of the negotiations”.
“Sadly, there is very clear backtracking, especially from the United States, with regard to the agenda of the negotiations. They want the creation of a government whereby the regime would leave us, the opposition, a few ministries,” said Hijab.
TBP and Agencies