Kashmir is India???s internal issue, says Syria

India and Syria are on the ???same page??? on international issues, says Syria’s Ambassador to India Dr. Riad Abbas, a day after Minister of State for External Affairs, MJ Akbar visited Damascus and met Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. He spoke to The Hindu???s Suhasini Haidar and Kallol BhattacharjeeMinister >MJ Akbar has made the first visit by Indian minister to Syria since the conflict began. Please tell us about what he and President Assad discussed and the outcomes.There is a historical relationship between India and Syria since their independence. This visit came during a changed international situation. The world has converted its position, from saying that we have to change the Assad government to now saying they have to deal with it. Many governments have gone from supporting the terrorists and their allies to now supporting the Syrian government and its allies. Instead of speaking about the pretext of freedom and democracy in Syria they have now recognised the violence as terrorism. Mr. Akbar???s visit at this time is fruitful for both India and Syria. Both countries are suffering from terrorism and cross border terrorism. From the beginning of our crisis the Syrian government has warned about this. If you support governments like Saudi Arabia and Turkey that have encouraged this terrorism, you will only help it to spread everywhere. What we had warned about, unfortunately that has now happened. It happens in the US, in Europe and other parts of the world.As you can see those who supported (the rebels) who called themselves Friends of Syria have all shifted, and from about 120 countries who were part of that group, now there are just 3 or 4, because they discovered the truth and the situation on the ground. India was one of the wise countries that knew the truth from the very beginning and we highly appreciate India???s support. That???s why it was a successful visit. They spoke about bilateral relations and the international situation as well, and th