Syrian authorities will welcome India’s participation in the post-war reconstruction of the country, Syrian President Bashar Assad told India’s WION television broadcaster in an interview published on Saturday, adding that New Delhi could also play a role in the settlement of the Syrian conflict.

“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.

The Syrian leader stressed that the reconstruction project had already been launched in Damascus and was being expanded to other cities after their liberation from the Islamic State (Daesh) and al-Nusra Front terrorist groups.

When asked about the Syrian peace process, Assad said India could “definitely” play a role in it.

“India through the history has always been credible. Through the different parties that took power in India, we never noted that there’s any fluctuation in their policy because it’s based on morals and ethics as I said. So, this credibility is a very important factor for India to play a role, not necessarily within Syria, because the Syrian conflict is not only Syrian — the main factors are regional and international, and the most important part of this that how can we protect international law,” the Syrian president said.

The Syrian civil war has been raging for six years, with government forces fighting against both Syrian opposition groups who strive to overthrow Assad’s government, and numerous extremist and terrorist groups such as Daesh and Jabhat Fatah al Sham, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.