The overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria under the leadership of Islamic group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is also being seen as a blow to India. India’s relations with Assad’s family were always good and Syria supported India on every major issue, especially in the matter of Kashmir. At a time when many Islamic countries stood with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, Syria was one of the few countries that stood apart from Pakistan and expressed its support for India’s sovereignty. The Assad-led Syrian government has been saying that the Kashmir dispute is India’s internal matter and New Delhi has the right to resolve it in its own way. In 2016, Syria had said on the Kashmir dispute that India has the right to resolve the Kashmir issue ‘by any means’ and ‘without any external help’. Related news: This stance of Syria on Kashmir is different from many countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which have often adopted the opposite stance and have become victims of Pakistan’s agenda. The Syrian government had also supported India on Article 370. When India abolished the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by removing Article 370 in 2019, the Syrian government had called it an ‘internal matter’ of India. At that time, Syria’s ambassador in New Delhi, Riyad Abbas, had said, ‘Every government has the right to do whatever it wants on its territory to protect its people. We are always with India in any action. Will Syria’s stance on Kashmir change after Al-Julani? If the new government of HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani made up of non-state elements does not completely change its Syrian policy, then Syria’s stance on Kashmir is expected to remain the same. Kabir Taneja, deputy director of New Delhi-based think tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF), wrote on social media site X, ‘It is still a good thing for India that even non-state terrorist elements have no problem with India and they use it Consider neutral. This has helped in reducing the communal divide around the security of its citizens in the region. The fall of Bashar al-Assad may lead to the re-emergence of extremist groups in Syria, which may affect the Middle East as well as India. HTS leader al-Jolani comes from the background of ISIS and in such a situation, if extremist groups become active again due to the void in Syrian leadership, then terrorist groups like ISIS can pose a challenge to India. Former Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Talmeez Ahmed said, ‘Political instability may persist in Syria for a long time. For now, India’s interests have not been directly affected; our relations with Israel are also fine. But what India should be concerned about is the issue of Iran. Israel wants to attack Iran along with America and if this happens then the region will be trapped in a long conflict which will also affect India. On the current situation in Syria, the Foreign Ministry has issued a statement calling for peace. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement, ‘We are keeping an eye on the situation in Syria in view of the ongoing developments there. We urge all parties to work towards maintaining the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria.
