US's friend India to keep North Korea embassy open
, TNN|
Updated: Oct 26, 2017, 10.08 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Even as US-North Korea tensions peak, India declared on Wednesday that it was not going to shut down its embassy in Pyongyang as it wanted channels of communication to remain open with the nation which is threatening to steer the world to the precipice of war.
Speaking at a joint press interaction with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said even the US would like “some friendly countries'' to continue to have some form of dialogue with Pyongyang.
“The fact is that we do have an embassy there even though it is very small,'' said Swaraj, responding to a query on whether India would downgrade ties with Pyongyang in the light of US attempts to rein in Kim Jong -Un diplomatically .
“Our trade with North Korea can at best be described as minimal. I told secretary Tillerson that some countries which are friendly to the US should continue to maintain their embassies as it will allow channels of communication to remain open,'' added Swaraj.
In keeping with UNSC sanctions, India has already banned all trade, except food and medicine, with North Korea. According to government data, India's exports to North Korea for the financial year 2016-2017 stood at $44.99 million and this year, from April to May , at $6.21million. In the first two months of the ongoing financial year, India's imports totalled only $4.74 million.
Both US and Japan have persuaded India to limit its trade ties with North Korea but official sources here later clarified that at no stage did the US ask India to close down its embassy in Pyongyang. “The foreign minister's remark was in response to a question specifically seeking to know if India was going to snap diplomatic links by shutting down its embassy ,'' said an official.
The US is now reported to have despatched two aircraft carriers in the direction of North Korea in what some security experts have described as a World War III threat. Aiming to curtail North Korea's access to nuclear technology and missiles, the US on Tuesday passed what is being described as the most farreaching sanctions ever directed at that country .
Swaraj and Tillerson also discussed issues like the Rohingya crisis with Swaraj reiterating India's position that the only long-term solution was to have socio-economic development in the Rakhine province which will benefit all communities.
Speaking at a joint press interaction with US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said even the US would like “some friendly countries'' to continue to have some form of dialogue with Pyongyang.
“The fact is that we do have an embassy there even though it is very small,'' said Swaraj, responding to a query on whether India would downgrade ties with Pyongyang in the light of US attempts to rein in Kim Jong -Un diplomatically .
“Our trade with North Korea can at best be described as minimal. I told secretary Tillerson that some countries which are friendly to the US should continue to maintain their embassies as it will allow channels of communication to remain open,'' added Swaraj.
In keeping with UNSC sanctions, India has already banned all trade, except food and medicine, with North Korea. According to government data, India's exports to North Korea for the financial year 2016-2017 stood at $44.99 million and this year, from April to May , at $6.21million. In the first two months of the ongoing financial year, India's imports totalled only $4.74 million.
Both US and Japan have persuaded India to limit its trade ties with North Korea but official sources here later clarified that at no stage did the US ask India to close down its embassy in Pyongyang. “The foreign minister's remark was in response to a question specifically seeking to know if India was going to snap diplomatic links by shutting down its embassy ,'' said an official.
The US is now reported to have despatched two aircraft carriers in the direction of North Korea in what some security experts have described as a World War III threat. Aiming to curtail North Korea's access to nuclear technology and missiles, the US on Tuesday passed what is being described as the most farreaching sanctions ever directed at that country .
Swaraj and Tillerson also discussed issues like the Rohingya crisis with Swaraj reiterating India's position that the only long-term solution was to have socio-economic development in the Rakhine province which will benefit all communities.
(This article was originally published in The Times of India)
