India welcomes Syria ceasefire, wishes Annan success

New Delhi, April 13 (IANS) India Friday welcomed the ceasefire in Syria and hoped that the UN mission led by Special Envoy Kofi Annan will have "further success" in ensuring lasting peace in the Middle East country.

"We welcome the developments in Syria in response to the mission of UN Special Envoy Kofi Annan," external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here.

"We hope this mission will have further success in the resolution of all issues, leading to lasting peace in Syria," he said.

UN-Arab League envoy Annan, a former UN secretary general, has said he is encouraged by reports that "the situation in Syria is relatively calm and that the cessation of hostilities appears to be holding".

Annan has, however, stressed that the Syrian government must carry out all the agreed peace plans, which include a withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from cities.

India has backed the political transition in the Middle East country where rebels and government forces are locked in a power conflict for the past few months.

The UN is readying a plan to send observers to Syria to ensure that the Syrian government keeps its commitments according to a peace plan, which has been agreed to by President Bashar al-Assad.