Pakistanwelcomes Korean leaders’ summit

ISLAMABAD: Soon after North Korea reportedly promised to close its atomic test site in May and invite US weapons experts to the country, an outcome of the recently held summit between President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan hoped that this would lead “to lasting peace, prosperity, stability, reconciliation and cooperation between the two Koreas as well as in the region”.

Kim and Moon agreed that they have “confirmed the common goal of realising, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.”

Kim was quoted as saying about the planned meeting with President Trump that if trust could be built up with the US there was no need to live with nuclear weapons. Of importance is the role that China has played as an honest broker by not only bringing the North and South on one table but also its efforts to ensure that President Trump is convinced of North Korea’s sincerity On Sunday, spokesman for Seoul’s president said, “Kim said, during the summit with President Moon, that he would carry out the closing of the nuclear test site in May, and would soon invite experts of South Korea and the US as well as journalists to disclose the process to the international community with transparency”.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office remarked, “It has been Pakistan’s consistent position that all relevant parties should pursue the path of dialogue and diplomacy to reduce tensions, refrain from any action that is inimical to peace and stability in the region and work towards achieving a comprehensive solution to the Korean Peninsula issue”.

Welcoming the recently held summit between the two Korea’s leadership, the FO added that Pakistan had always encouraged the DPRK and RoK to resume meaningful negotiations and supported all efforts for smooth reunification of the Korean Peninsula including the two Summits between North and South Korea in June 2000 and 2007.

While some tensions could be seen between the two sides with China clamping sanctions, as Kim went on a spree of testing missiles and a nuclear bomb, their historical communist bond prevailed.

Questions are now being asked in Pakistan whether improved China-India relations will contribute towards defusing tensions between Delhi and Islamabad. This is one role that China as it builds up trust in South Asian capitals is capable of playing. Two incidents on Sunday proved that peace is not elusive between the two neighbors: first, when the Pakistan Rangers handed a 23-year-old Indian national Dalwinder Singh over to the BSF of India at Wagah check post on Sunday; second, the Pakistan Navy told the media that it delivered medical assistance to Indian fishermen who were lost at the sea after the engine of their boat developed some problem.

The spokesperson for Pakistan Navy noted that the naval forces of the country had always been at the forefront of relief and rescue operations at sea. “In addition to protecting the borders, the naval forces have always been at the forefront of relief and rescue operations. This rescue mission also highlights that Pakistan wants peace in the region,” the spokesperson reaffirmed in a statement to the media.