New Delhi, Jul 11 (PTI) Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will be on a two-day official visit to Syria, the first ministerial level visit to the country in seven years.

During his maiden visit to Syria beginning Wednesday, Muraleedharan is likely to meet the country's leadership in Damascus for wide-ranging discussions.

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He will also interact with a group of Syrian students who have studied or are proceeding to study in India under a scholarship scheme.

Muraleedharan is also expected to meet functionaries of the Syrian Orthodox Church.

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India and Syria have traditionally enjoyed warm and friendly relations based on deep-rooted people-to-people ties, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement here.

It said India has maintained its Embassy in Syria all along the course of conflict in the region.

A large number of students, businessmen and patients travel to India.

India has contributed immensely to the capacity-building of the Syrian youth over the years through scholarship schemes and training courses under the flagship ITEC programme, it said.

Muraleedharan's visit is expected to lend further momentum to the strong relationship between the two countries.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)