Russia to propose India's name for Geneva II talks on Syria

Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a major global player, is to propose India's name for participating in the Geneva II peace conference next month.

India has consistently counseled against military intervention in Syria and spoken out strongly on the need for negotiations among all the parties in Syria to resolve the situation in the violence wracked country.

Geneva II is to be held Nov 23-24 and a preliminary meeting to be held before that in early November.

Russia is proposing to speak out at the preliminary meeting to include India in the Geneva II conference, which would aim to find a political solution to Syria where rebels are fighting to oust the regime of President Bashar al -Assad, said official sources.

The preliminary meeting would be attended the US, EU, Russia, China, the regional neighbours of Syria like Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, the rebel parties to Syria and President Assad.
India's participation would be confirmed only when the other countries agree to it, said the source, adding that was a major recognition for India

During Monday's India-Russia summit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh commended Russia's moves to defuse the crisis in Syria. Russia has played a major role by averting a US military strike on Syrian-government held areas over the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime.

Due to Russia's intervention, Syria agreed to open up its chemical weapons arsenal to international inspection and for destruction.

India and Russia share similar views on Syria and on the need for negotiations among all sides to find a way out of the crisis, said an official.