Patil concludes visit to Syria

Aleppo (Syria), Nov 29 (PTI)Indian President Pratibha
Patil Monday concluded her four-day visit to Syria, which is
expected to leapfrog the bilateral commercial and economic
ties and double the trade turnover in the next two years.
After visiting the International Centre for
Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in this ancient
city, Patil, the first Indian head of state to visit this
West Asian country, left for New Delhi.
Patil had arrived here on the second leg of her
nine-day tour of the Gulf and West Asia region after a
five-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, the largest
trading partner of India.
The visit saw both Syria and United Arab Emirates
coming out in strong support to India's quest for a permanent
seat in the reformed U N Security Council. India has friendly
ties with these countries and there are no irritants.
The visit saw Syrian leadership seeking Indian
participation in the phosphates sector and also inviting
Indian companies to participate more in the "expanding and
promising" sectors of power and hydrocarbons.
It saw India favouring exploring a long-term
arrangement on phosphates and expressing interest in setting
up power projects in this West Asian country.
While Syria is rich in deposits of phosphates, India
has been in perennial short supply and has always imported the
salt which is essential to maintain the nutrient balance of
agricultural soil.
New Delhi has been pressing for long for such an
arrangement with Syria which it feels could be a "win-win" for
both sides.
India's has interest in the power sector in Syria and
said that PSUs like NTPC and Power Grid could be potential
participants.
The two sides also agreed that there should be more
high-level ministerial contacts to keep up the momentum of the
enhanced engagement.