India, Nov. 12 -- In a moment few could have predicted, US President Donald Trump on Monday hosted Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House, marking the first-ever official visit by a Syrian head of state to the United States since Syria gained independence from France in 1946.

The meeting represents an extraordinary diplomatic shift.

Al-Sharaa, 43, a former Al-Qaeda commander once designated a global terrorist by Washington and placed under a $10 million US bounty, now stood alongside Trump in the Oval Office- a tableau that would once have seemed unimaginable.

A video of the encounter, which has gone viral on social media, shows a lighter moment between the two leaders. Trump is seen gifting Al-Sharaa a bottle of perfume, ...