Foreign fighters in Syria have moved: India

United Nations, Jan. 21: India has expressed concern that foreign fighters involved in the conflict in Syria have moved to other places as mercenaries, as New Delhi underlined that it is ready to play a constructive role in the Security Council to help realise the objective of the West Asian country reclaiming its place in the comity of nations.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti, speaking at the Security Council briefing on Syria on Wednesday, reminded the Council that the first Presidential Statement on the Syrian conflict was adopted under India's Presidency of the 15nation UNSC in August

2011. He lamented that though by December 2012, three resolutions have been adopted on Syria, there has hardly been any progress in terms of their implementation and terrorist groups took advantage of the situation and entrenched themselves.

“As we begin our new Council term eight years later, it is indeed disheartening to note that the ongoing crisis in Syria still has no end in sight and the political process is yet to take off. The conflict has become even more complex with the involvement of regional players,” Tirumurti told the Council, which also heard from UN Syrian envoy Geir Pedersen via video link.

Tirumurti voiced concern that terrorism emanating from Syria has spread far, even reaching parts of Africa. “Foreign fighters involved in the Syrian conflict have also moved to other places as mercenaries. The humanitarian situation has worsened, further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.” The long-drawn and intractable Syrian conflict underlines the inevitability of a Syrianled and Syrian-owned political process, preserving the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria, in line with UNSC resolution and culminating in constitutional reform and free and fair elections, he said.

"We hope that the conflict in Syria will end completely, sooner than later, and the reconstruction of Syria will begin, so that Syria reclaims its place in the comity of nations,” he said.