Jaishankar assures of continued humanitarian support to Syria

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday assured his Syrian counterpart, Dr Faisal Mekdad of continued humanitarian support from India, especially in regard to medicines and artificial limbs.

“A detailed discussion with Foreign Minister Dr Faisal Mekdad of Syria this evening on bilateral relations and the regional situation. Assured him of continued humanitarian support from India, especially in regard to medicines and artificial limbs,” tweeted Jaishankar.

India over the years has been extending humanitarian, technical and developmental assistance to Syria through bilateral and multilateral channels.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs press release, consignments of food and medicines have been supplied to Syria from time to time, including during the pandemic.

India has offered Lines of Credit worth USD 280 million to Syria for building a power plant and a steel plant in the country. Two Artificial Limb Fitment Camps (Jaipur Foot) have been organized in Syria in December 2020 and recently in October-November 2022.

A Next-Gen Centre for Information Technology was set up in Damascus in October 2021. About 1500 scholarships have been provided to Syrian students to study in India in diverse streams, including 200 scholarships in the current academic year, added the release.

Mekdad is on an official visit to India from November 17-21, 2022. This is his first visit to India as Foreign Minister.

Jaishankar hosted the visiting Foreign Minister for bilateral talks today. Both Ministers reviewed the current state of bilateral relations and discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest, read the MEA release.

Discussion between the two sides touched upon extending humanitarian and developmental support to Syria, capacity building of Syrian youth and collaboration in sectors like fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, IT, etc.

During the visit, Mekdad called on Vice President, Jagdeep Dhankhar, interacted with the Indian business community at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), addressed a gathering at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP IDSA), added the release.

Today, he will also visit the Centre of Excellence of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) in Gurugram.

The visit of Mekdad to India has provided further impetus to the bilateral relations between the two countries, added the release. (ANI)