Permanent Mission of India to the UN

New York 

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UNSC briefing/consultations-Syria (political/humanitarian)

[Tuesday, 25 October 2022; 1000 hrs]

India Remarks

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I join others in thanking Special Envoy Geir Pedersen for his briefing. We also thank USG Martin Griffiths for his update on the humanitarian situation. I will focus my remarks on the political process, terrorism and humanitarian situation. 

2.    The stalemate in the political process has become unsustainable and it is evident from Special Envoy’s briefing. There has been hardly any progress in the recent times, particularly regarding the constitutional committee. Since its last meeting in Geneva in June, the Small Body of the Constitutional Committee has not met and there is no clarity on the way forward. It has been three years since the establishment of the Committee. The Committee was expected to build trust and confidence among all three sides through its collaborative action. Clearly, that has not been the case so far. 

3.    In this regard, we have noted the efforts made by Special Envoy, including his recent meetings in Damascus. We continue to support his ‘step for step’ approach and call on all sides to engage with Special Envoy in a constructive manner. 

4.    We also believe regional countries, particularly Syria’s Arab neighbors have an important role to play, if we were to see any progress on the political track. Syria’s relations and engagement with its Arab neighbors has improved considerably in the recent times. We hope the upcoming Arab League meeting in Algiers and deliberations will positively contribute to UN facilitated political process.  

5.    The threat of terrorism in Syria and region cannot be ignored. The sanctioned terror outfits such as ISIL, and Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, have remained active in Syria, evident from attacks across Dayr al-Zawr, Hasakah, eastern rural Homs and Hama. The Al Hasakah prison break incident of January this year, was another example. The global fight against terrorism cannot and should not be compromised for narrow political gains. The international community should also display zero tolerance approach towards terrorism. 

6.    On the security front, we remain concerned with the overall situation in Syria. There is an urgent need for serious attempts towards comprehensive nationwide ceasefire in Syria. As mentioned by SG in his latest report, Syria does not need more military operations. We believe that withdrawal of all foreign forces is essential toward realizing this objective. We also reiterate our strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic. 

7.    On humanitarian situation, we remain concerned.  As we heard from OCHA, 14.6 million people need humanitarian assistance, a 9 per cent increase from last year. Food insecurity has reached historic highs. The economic situation has become dire, thereby aggravating the humanitarian situation further. Low funding levels of the Syrian humanitarian response is a matter of serious concern. 

8.    We note the importance of humanitarian assistance provided to Syria, under UN mandated mechanism. At the same time, humanitarian assistance cannot be a matter of political expediency. Linking humanitarian and developmental assistance with the progress in the political process will only exacerbate the humanitarian sufferings and should be avoided.  The focus should be on early recovery projects and cross-line operations as well. 

9.    It is clear therefore a decisive forward movement on the political track in Syria remains an urgent imperative to alleviate the sufferings of its people. To realize this, all parties, particularly the external players need to display their commitment, in tangible terms, to a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned UN-facilitated political process in line with UN Security Council Resolution 2254.

10.    In conclusion, let me underline India’s sustained commitment to extending developmental assistance and human resource development support to Syria.. I thank you. 

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