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The Damascus deal ; As India rolled out the red carpet for Syrian President Bashar Al- Assad on June 17, the compulsions to woo its Left allies weighed heavily on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
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India Today
- Article date:
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June 30, 2008
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Diplomacy is often about tightrope walking.
As India rolled out the red carpet for Syrian President Bashar Al-
Assad on June 17, the compulsions to woo its Left allies weighed
heavily on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The big deliverable from Assad's five-day visit was to flaunt
UPA's credentials of having an independent foreign policy.
The 41-year-old opthalmologist-turned politician's visit assumes
significance as it comes after five years of being put on cold
storage.
Earlier, Delhi had not wanted to disturb its own strategic
arithmetic with the US, especially in the season of the nuclear
deal.
India adopted a hands-off approach towards Damascus given Syria's
dodgy nuclear programme, ...