By IANS
New Delhi : India Wednesday welcomed the decision of the two Koreas to hold a summit meeting of their leaders later this month and hoped it would contribute to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.
“Government of India welcomes the decision,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said.
“We support all efforts for peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula, and we hope that the summit meeting in Pyongyang will further contribute in a positive way to this objective,” he added.
The summit will be the first between the two Koreas in seven years.
The Wednesday announcement of a meeting Aug 28-30 between North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun comes in the wake of Pyongyang’s decision in July to shut down its nuclear facilities.
The summit meeting has raised hopes for a reconciliation on the Korean Peninsula that has been reeling under nuclear tension after North Korea shocked the world by defiantly conducting a nuclear test late last year.
Roh is likely to urge Kim to take decisive steps toward complete denuclearisation in return for better ties and economic assistance from the outside world, which will go a long way in helping North Korea to rebuild its tottering economy.
India, a responsible stakeholder in the global nuclear order and which has finalised a historic civil nuclear deal with the US, is opposed to all forms of proliferation and had criticised Pyongyang’s nuclear test last year.