This article covers economic relations and the development partnership between India and Syria: trade figures and the main goods traded, the Joint Commission and Joint Business Council, business and energy contacts, and India's grants, lines of credit, projects, humanitarian assistance and training for Syrians. It draws on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of July 2026, which states that India has been extending development and humanitarian assistance to Syria in different forms over the years. Trade figures are in millions of US dollars and are those given by the brief, which cites the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India.

Trade figures

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, trade between India and Syria was as follows (USD million):

  • 2021-22: exports from India 105.46, imports from Syria 15.61, total trade 121.07
  • 2022-23: exports from India 103.43, imports from Syria 9.22, total trade 112.65
  • 2023-24: exports from India 63.2, imports from Syria 18.33, total trade 81.53
  • 2024-25: exports from India 63.71, imports from Syria 16.18, total trade 79.89

The brief's table also has a row for 2025-26. Its total for that year is not consistent with the export and import figures given in the same row, so the 2025-26 figures are not reproduced here.

Goods traded

The brief lists the major commodities of export from India to Syria as cereals (especially rice), pharmaceutical products, man-made filaments, cotton yarns and textiles, and organic chemicals.

Major commodities imported from Syria include almonds, wool, leather, cumin, black sesame, minerals (phosphate), olive oil, tobacco and dry fruits.

Joint Commission Meeting

2 sessions of the India-Syria Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) have been held: the 1st in January 2008 in New Delhi and the 2nd in June 2010 in Damascus. The 3rd JCM, which was to have been held in Delhi, could not take place because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joint Business Council

The India-Syria Joint Business Council (JBC) was inaugurated in November 2010, during the visit of the then President, Smt. Pratibha Patil, to Syria. The brief states that the Council has never met and has remained inactive because of the economic and security situation in Syria.

Business and energy contacts

On 13 January 2023, Syria's Minister of Oil & Mineral Resources, H.E. Mr. Bassam Radwan Tohme, took part in the Energy Ministers' session of the 1st Voice of Global South Summit. The session was chaired by H.E. Shri Hardeep S. Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

When Dr. Fayssal Mekdad, Syria's Minister of Foreign Affairs & Expatriates, visited India in November 2022, the two sides touched upon collaboration in sectors such as fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and IT. Dr. Mekdad interacted with the Indian business community at CII, and the Syrian delegation visited the Centre of Excellence of NASSCOM in Gurugram.

H.E. Ms. Rania Ahmad, Deputy Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade of the Syrian Arab Republic, took part in the inaugural edition of the CII-India Mediterranean Business Conclave. The Conclave was organised by CII in partnership with the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on 6 September 2024.

The brief gives no figures for investment between India and Syria.

Early grants, lines of credit and projects

During the visit of Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Syria in November 2003, India announced the establishment of a Biotechnology Centre in Damascus with Indian technical assistance and a grant of US$ 1 million, and a Line of Credit (LoC) of US$ 25 million.

During the state visit of President Bashar Al-Assad to India in June 2008, a Work Plan on Cooperation in Agriculture was signed. Syria also accepted India's offers to set up an IT Center of Excellence and to carry out a feasibility study on the utilisation of Syria's phosphate resources.

During the State visit of President Smt. Pratibha Patil to Syria in November 2010, India offered an LoC of US$ 100 million. A contribution of 2 million Syrian pounds was made to the Syrian NGO AAMAL, and over 1 million Syrian pounds to the Missionaries of Charity, Aleppo.

Next-Gen Center for Information Technology

The Next-Gen Center for Information Technology (NexGen IS-CEIT) was set up in Damascus with the assistance of C-DAC in December 2010. In October 2019, the Government of India and the Government of Syria signed an MoU to upgrade it into a Next-Gen Center at an estimated cost of Rs 4 crore.

The project was completed and handed over to the Government of Syria on 20 October 2021. Minister of State Shri V Muraleedharan attended the handing-over ceremony virtually from India.

Humanitarian assistance

At the Brussels conferences on Syria, India pledged USD 2.5 million in 2013, USD 2.5 million in 2014 and USD 2 million in 2015 for developmental assistance, routed to Syria through UN offices. In 2016, India chose to extend assistance of USD 6 million bilaterally in the form of food items and medicines. In March 2018, India delivered humanitarian aid worth USD 6 million in the form of pharmaceuticals and foodstuff (tea, sugar, palm oil).

Other consignments recorded in the brief:

  • 2 July 2020: a 10 MT consignment of medicines to help Syria fight the COVID pandemic. The brief describes it as the largest ever medical assistance from any country to Syria in the pandemic period, and the first humanitarian assistance since the imposition of the US sanctions Act on the Syrian government on June 17, 2020.
  • February-March 2021: 2,000 MT of rice, provided in response to a request from the Syrian Government for emergency humanitarian assistance.
  • February-March 2023: after the earthquake in Syria on 6 February 2023, the Government of India sent two special flights with 30 tonnes of relief material. The consignment included specialised anti-cancer medicines, which were handed over to the Ministry of Health on March 09, 2023. At the Syrian Government's request, India later sent a further consignment of anti-cancer medicines weighing around 1400 kgs.
  • July 2025: 5 Metric Tonnes of essential life-saving medicines, including anti-cancer drugs, antibiotics and anti-hypertensives.

Artificial limb fitment camps

Under the 'India for Humanity' initiative, launched by the MEA as part of the Gandhi@150 celebrations, an Artificial Limb Fitment Camp was organised in Damascus in December 2019 and January 2020. During the 38-day camp, a total of 515 limbs were fitted to 483 beneficiaries from different parts of Syria.

The 2nd Artificial Limb Fitment Camp in Damascus was inaugurated by Secretary (CPV & OIA) Dr. Ausaf Sayeed on October 2, 2022, the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. 531 Syrian nationals benefited from the camp. India also offered training under ITEC to Syrian nationals in the fitment of limbs in India.

ITEC and professional training

Under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, 90 training slots are offered to Syria annually. In September 2024, India organised a tailor-made ITEC programme in Arabic for 13 Syrian officers from the Supreme Audit Institution. It was held at the International Centre for Information Systems and Audit (iCISA), the International Training Centre of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

The brief also records training for Syrian doctors under the Observership Programme at Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in Delhi in July 2026.

Training for diplomats

The Foreign Service Institutes of the two countries signed an MoU of cooperation in January 2018. As of July 2026, 4 batches of Syrian diplomats had attended special training in India: 26 in 2018, 40 in 2019, 19 in 2020 and 6 in 2026.

A Syrian diplomat also took part in the 2nd Global South Young Diplomats Forum, held at the Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS) from 09-20 September 2024.