DAMASCUS : Visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs & Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic to India

DAMASCUS : Visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs & Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic to India

DAMASCUS : Dr. Fayssal Mekdad, Minister of Foreign Affairs & Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic is on an official visit to India from 17-21 November 2022. This is his first visit to India as Foreign Minister.

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar hosted the visiting Foreign Minister for bilateral talks on 18 November 2022. Both Ministers reviewed the current state of bilateral relations and discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest. Discussion between the two sides touched upon extending humanitarian & developmental support to Syria, capacity building of Syrian youth and collaboration in sectors like fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, IT, etc.

During the visit, Dr. Mekdad called on Hon’ble Vice President Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar, interacted with the Indian business community at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), addressed a gathering at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP IDSA). He will also visit the Centre of Excellence of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies) in Gurugram tomorrow.

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

The visit of Dr. Fayssal Mekdad, Minister of Foreign Affairs & Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic to India has provided further impetus to the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Leave a Comment