India welcomes inter-Korean summit

India on Thursday hailed the recent inter-Korean summit held in Pyongyang, saying that such engagement would help in reducing tensions and pave the way for long-lasting peace in the Korean Peninsula.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement, "India welcomes the just concluded inter-Korean Summit meeting held in Pyongyang on September 18-20, 2018. India has been constantly supportive of all such efforts to bring about peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy."

"We hope that such continued engagement will help in reducing tensions and pave the way for lasting peace and reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula and also address our concerns about proliferation linkages extending to India's neighbourhood," the statement added.

On Tuesday, South Korean president Moon Jae-in arrived in Pyongyang, which was the first visit by a South Korean head of state to attend the third bilateral meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The visit was largely aimed at brokering the stalled talks between Pyongyang and Washington over the former's progress of denuclearisation and to discuss steps to further improve inter-Korean ties.

The two Koreas signed a joint military agreement and a joint statement to cease hostilities and working for peace on the peninsula and continue denuclearisation talks. Additionally, the two sides agreed to take "additional steps" to achieve the process of denuclearisation.

The Korean leaders also undertook a joint excursion to Mount Paektu, a volcanic mountain located on China-North Korea border as part of a friendship event.

Upon his return from North Korea on Thursday, President Moon had said that North Korea is committed to achieving denuclearisation in exchange for security guarantees from the US and expressed hope of the second meeting between Kim and US president Donald Trump, Yonhap News Agency reported.

President Moon had stated that the South Korean government wanted to declare a formal end to the Korean War before the end of this year while adding that he would discuss the matter with Trump during his visit to the US next week.