India to participate in summit on crisis

WASHINGTON: India will be a part of an international meeting hosted by the US and Canada next month to discuss North Korea’s nuclear threat and ways to improve the effectiveness of the current pressure campaign against the reclusive nation.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson and his Canadian counterpart Chrystia Freeland made the announcement during their meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday. The meeting co-hosted by the US and Canada will take place on January 16 in Vancouver.

“With the convening of what we’re calling the Vancouver Group in mid-January, this is a convening of foreign ministers from the original sending states that were involved in the original Korean conflict,” he said.

The group includes Australia, Belgium, Britain, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.

“But we also obviously are including other important parties — (South) Korea, Japan, India, Sweden, and others, who we think are important to have engaged in this meeting,” Tillerson told reporters.

The countries will discuss how to improve the effectiveness of the current pressure campaign, Tillerson said.

Freeland said the meeting would demonstrate international solidarity against North Korea’s dangerous and illegal actions.PTI