India gives first tranche of $2 million for Syrian refugees

NEW DELHI: India on Monday gave $500,000 for Syrians in distress and displaced from their homes. The Indian ambassador to Jordan gave the money to the Jordanian government which is coordinating relief for the Syrian refugees.

India had promised $2 million for humanitarian assistance to Syrians in March. Today was the first portion of that commitment, about six months after, and that too only a portion of the promised amount.

Like most of the world, India too was jolted by the reports of large numbers of Syrian refugees fleeing their war-torn country to Europe, their plight brought home forcefully with the picture of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body washed up on a Turkish shore.

The war shows no signs of coming to an end, with the Assad government and the opposition including ISIS and sundry Al Qaeda-affiliated groups continuing a brutal and bloody conflict. The US has failed to come up with a peace plan.Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and Iran are using this as a proxy war for influence in the Middle East.