India welcomes US, Russia agreement on Syria chemical weapons

India on Monday welcomed the agreement reached between the US and Russia on securing Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles and hoped the developments would lead to early convening of the UN-backed Geneva II talks for a negotiated solution to the Syrian crisis.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin also welcomed Syria's formal accession to the international treaty on banning chemical weapons. He said that India has consistently called upon all sides to abjure violence "so that conditions can be created for an inclusive political dialogue leading to a comprehensive political solution, taking into account the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people".

The statement emphasised India's consistent position that "any external military intervention in Syria's affairs should be excluded". 

"India welcomes the framework agreement reached between Russia and the US on the time-bound safeguarding and destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles. As an important step in the process, India also welcomes the recent steps taken by Syria to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention," the spokesperson said. "This is in alignment with India's consistent stance of supporting the complete destruction and elimination of chemical weapons worldwide."

The spokesperson said: "We also see these developments as the reinvigoration of the peace efforts towards a political solution to the Syrian conflict. We are hopeful that this will lead to the early convening of the proposed 'International Conference on Syria' (Geneva-II), which will bring all parties to the conflict to the negotiating table. "India has consistently called upon all sides to the Syrian conflict to abjure violence so that conditions can be created for an inclusive political dialogue leading to a comprehensive political solution, taking into account the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people. Any external military intervention in Syria's affairs should be excluded."

Announcement of the deal between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry came on Saturday after three days of intense talks in Geneva, Switzerland. The deal has helped avert a situation leading to a possible US military strike on Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus last month. The Syrian regime has denied using chemical weapons on its people.