Thread by @MattooShashank

India is one of the only countries to directly aid Syria after the Feb 6 earthquake

The war-torn nation has seen 9 million people affected by the quakes & needs ~$400 mn in aid

The West has been accused of neglecting Syria

🧵on why 🇮🇳 helped Syria when few would (1/10)

(2/10)

The Feb 6 quakes hit north-West Syria, which borders Turkey, hardest

Syria has been consumed by a civil war since 2011 that has claimed between 470,000-600,000 lives

Unlike Turkey, Syria has no capacity to help its citizens

🇮🇳 instantly flew 7 C-17 aircraft w. aid

(3/10)

But the West's struggle to send aid comes down to one man: Bashar al-Assad

Assad, who has ruled Syria since 2000, violently cracked down on protests against his rule during the Arab spring

Assad has also been accused of chemical bombings against his own people

(4/10)

Assad's govt has been subject to sanctions & isolation by the West

🇮🇳 did it differently

-Kept its Embassy in Damascus open largely through the civil war

-Millions in development aid

-High level political ties continue & Foreign Min. Mekdad visited 🇮🇳 in Nov '22

(5/10)

Why?

@KabirTaneja put it best:
- 🇮🇳 has pragmatic foreign policy that puts interest over ideology
-Russia, a key partner, has militarily backed Assad
-Shared interest in countering terror groups like ISIS
-🇮🇳 has 7 million citizens in Middle-East; needs stability

@KabirTaneja (6/10)

As such, 🇮🇳 has provided development aid, medical assistance & relief supplies to Syria for years

Along w. UAE & S. Arabia, 🇮🇳 one of the few countries to send aid to both Turkey and Syria

Meanwhile, the West has been winding itself up in red tape

Here's why

@KabirTaneja (7/10)

While Western govts want to give aid, there are problems

Assad wants Western aid to be distributed through his govt agencies

West believes he'll divert the aid to strengthen himself & win Syrian civil war

ft.com/content/b19662…

@KabirTaneja (8/10)

Assad wants to distribute aid to the country's north-west region which were worst affected

However, the region is held by Syrian rebels

Western aid to Syria through Assad would mean acknowledging his sovereignty

West had backed rebels against Assad so it can't do that

@KabirTaneja (9/10)

🇺🇸 trying to work w. NGOs but they don't have the capacity to deal w. crisis of this scale

UN has traditionally supplied aid to rebel-held north-west through one UNSC mandated border crossing w. Turkey

West has tried to open more crossings but Assad has resisted this

@KabirTaneja (10/10)

Western aid flows have been hamstrung by red tape & politics

By contrast, 🇮🇳 has chosen to work w. the Assad govt & has handed aid to the authorities in Damascus

With 4 mn people in NW Syria in need of aid, battling freezing temp & nowhere to go, 🇮🇳 has stepped up