Speaking to India's WION television broadcaster over the weekend, the Syrian president explained that situation in his country "has improved dramatically…because the terrorist groups, mainly ISIS and al-Nusra and like-minded groups in Syria who are Wahhabi terrorist extremist groups, are retreating…the area under their control has been shrinking."
"So, the situation on the ground, from a military point of view, is much better than before," Assad said.
In the same interview, Assad welcomed India's participation in Syria's post-war reconstruction.
"If you want to talk about the reconstruction, as you know, when you have war in any country that destroys much of the infrastructure, the most profitable sector would be the rebuilding, and India is welcome to play an economic role in the reconstruction of Syria, something that we already started," Assad said.
Asked to comment on the Syrian president's remarks, Alexander Perendzhiev, political and military analyst and lecturer at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, explained that for Syria to start the process of rebuilding, political stability must first be assured.
The answer, he said, lies in part in diplomacy, including Syria's Russian allies' determined political and diplomatic efforts to establish a dialogue between the government and the armed opposition, whether in international platforms or within the country itself.
"Our military forces in Syria are not only fighting there, but helping to establish conditions for peaceful life," Perendzhiev said. "They are trying to ensure that in one region or another, local leaders and the various local power brokers can establish a normal peaceful life, rather than be in confrontation with one another and with the central government."
With any luck, these efforts, combined with an uncompromising war with the jihadists, will eventually help to bring the Syrian war to an end, and for good.
