Syrian leader in key India trip

[Nafees]

Sources: BBC News

The Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, has begun a a key five-day state trip to India.

The visit - the first by a Syrian president in three decades - is expected to focus on promoting co-operation in trade and energy.

Mr Assad will holds talks with the Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

India, which is looking for new sources of energy, has been reaching out to countries like Syria and Iran despite its close relations with the US.

In December 2005, India and China won a joint multi-million dollar bid to buy Petro-Canada's 37% stake in Syrian oilfields.

Mr Assad arrived in the Indian capital at the head of a large delegation which included his foreign, trade and telecommunication ministers.

He will also visit the city of Bangalore, India's information technology hub, during the trip.

India has long-standing ties with the Arab world but lately has also developed strong relations with Israel.

Ahead of President Assad's visit, a Syrian cabinet minister, Bouthaina Shaaban, said he hoped India's ties with Israel would not come at the expense of its historic links with the Arabs.

[Flintlock]

India can play role in Middle East peace process: Assad

New Delhi (PTI): Hailing India as a supporter of the Arab cause, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on Thursday said it can play a role in resolution of Middle East problem by using its "strong relations" with the US and Israel.

He also strongly supported India's bid for permanent membership of UN Security Council, saying the "rising" country with important role in Asian and global affairs should not remain out of the world body's powerful unit.

On his first visit here, Al-Assad doubted Bush administration's intention to usher in peace in Middle East and pinned hopes on the next government in Washington.

The Syrian President, who discussed the Middle East situation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday, expressed appreciation for India's stand on the Arab issue, saying it "always taken an objective position" and supported the Arab cause.

Asked whether New Delhi can play a role in resolving the Middle East crisis, he replied in affirmative, saying "India has the credibility because of its objective position."

To a question about New Delhi's growing ties with Washington, he said "India has strong relations with most of the world, including the US... If India wants to use these relations for ushering peace in Middle East, that will be positive."

Expressing confidence that India will always play a "positive role", Al-Assad indicated that New Delhi should "convince" the US as also Israel to have peace on top of the agenda.

Noting that India has not developed its relations with any country at the expense of its ties with "friends" in the Arab world, the Syrian President said "that is important for us".

On Kashmir, he said the issue needs to be resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan. He expressed happiness that the two countries are holding direct talks in addressing it.

To a question about India's aspirations for the permanent membership of UN Security Council, Al-Assad said Syria "strongly supports" it as part of overall reforms of the world body.

To press his point, he said India cannot be ignored as it is a big influential country housing one-sixth of the world population.

On his talks with Singh, Al-Assad said they discussed ways to push their bilateral relations, including in trade and economic fields with particular focus on energy, IT and fertilisers.

The two leaders also talked about the scourge of terrorism and ways to cooperate in fighting it.

With regard to the situation in West Asia, the Syrian President welcomed the latest efforts of negotiations involving Israel, Lebanon and Hamas.

He said Syria was ready to cooperate with anyone, including the US, for ushering in peace in the region but would not become anybody's "puppet".

Attacking the US for its policy on Iraq, he warned that disintegration of the Arab country will have a domino's effect that could lead to chaos in the region.