Shinzo Abe in Gujarat: India, Japan strongly condemn North Korea's nuclear weapons programme

Gandhinagar: India and Japan on Thursday condemned “in the strongest terms” North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. “The two Prime Ministers condemned in the strongest terms North Korea’s continued development of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, including the latest nuclear test conducted by North Korea on 3 September as well as its uranium enrichment activities,” said a joint statement issued following the annual bilateral summit in Gandhinagar between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe. [caption id=“attachment_4043779” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Narendra Modi and Shinzo Abe. PTI[/caption] “Recognising that North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and its proliferation links, including the launch of a ballistic missile flying over Japanese territory on 29 August, 2017, pose grave and real threat to international peace and stability and the international non-proliferation efforts, the two Prime Ministers strongly urged North Korea to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and not to take any further provocative actions, and to fully comply with its international obligations under relevant UNSC resolutions including the newly and unanimously adopted resolution 2375, and other international commitments,” it stated. According to the statement, both leaders agreed to work together to deal with the current serious situation and called on the international community to rigorously and fully implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions to maximise pressure on North Korea. “They stressed the importance of holding accountable all parties that have supported North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes,” it said. Briefing the media after the summit, foreign secretary S Jaishankar said that India was always concerned over nuclear proliferation reports. “The fact that the North Korean programme has come under sharp and closer scrutiny, that warrants some examination of its backward linkages,” Jaishankar said. “You know as well as I know what those linkages are,” he added.