MEA panel holds ‘talks’ with new Syria admn backed by Turkey  

India has reportedly sent a delegation to hold talks with Syria’s new administration led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a Turkey-supported Islamist leader who once headed a branch of Al-Qaeda.

The move from India comes for the first time since the opposition forces ousted Syria’s longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last year.

Last year, opposition forces led by Sharaa’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) escalated their offensive in November. Within weeks, they reached the capital of Damascus, capturing it on December 8 and forcing Assad to flee.

While there was no word from India on the meeting in Damascus, Syria’s foreign ministry confirmed the meeting between Suresh Kumar, the Director of the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) Division at the Ministry of External Affairs, and Syrian foreign minister Asaad Hassan Al-Sheibani.

“The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Mr Asaad Hassan Al-Sheibani, received in the capital Damascus an Indian delegation headed by Mr Suresh Kumar, Director of the West Asia and North Africa Department at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. The meeting addressed issues of common interest and ways to enhance relations between the two countries in a manner that serves the interests of both peoples,” said the Syrian foreign ministry in a statement on X.

There have been concerns about the new administration in Syria, owing to the jihadist past of its leader and group —the HTS— that he runs. Moreover, Sharaa’s principal supporter, Turkey, has pursued an overtly anti-India agenda lately, supporting Pakistan not just diplomatically but also militarily.

With Assad, India had a comfortable relationship and Assad sided with India even on the issue of Kashmir on international platforms. India also regularly sent humanitarian support to Syria. Notably, India never closed the embassy in Damascus even as a civil war raged in the country.

In the meeting with Kumar, Syrian foreign minister Sheibani “dealt with issues of mutual concern and ways of enhancing relations between the two countries in the interests of both peoples”, according to Syria’s state-owned SANA news agency.

Beside the foreign minister, Kumar also met Syrian health minister Musab Al-Ali and the two sides discussed ways of enhancing health cooperation, particularly in the pharmaceutical industries and medical training fields, as per the news agency.

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