New Delhi: In a significant diplomatic engagement, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will receive her North Korean counterpart Ri Su-yong on Monday during which issues like DPRK's contentious nuclear programme and concerns over the tension in the Korean Peninsula are expected to figure.
The meeting, which comes nearly a month ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Seoul, will also provide an opportunity to the India side to re-assess its relationship with Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is under heavy economic and other sanctions from the UN and western countries.
According to sources, Ri, who arrived in New Delhi in the wee hours, is likely to brief Indian side on his country's nuclear programme, which has been a matter of deep concern for the international community.
Swaraj is expected to reiterate India's stand "on the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, including the objective of denuclearising".
Despite sanctions and other multi-national efforts, the international community has not been able to curb the deep ambitions of Pyongyang, which has conducted several nuclear tests.
This has lead to tougher sanctions imposed on North Korean banking, travel and trade, reflecting the country's increased international isolation.
Apart from Swaraj, Ri, during his three-day visit, will also call on Vice-President M Hamid Ansari. Earlier, Kim Yong Il, Vice Foreign Minister, visited Delhi in May 2007 and August 2009.
Other issues expected to figure during the talks may include humanitarian assistance as well as educational and cultural aid to Pyongyang.
India has been extending humanitarian assistance to DPRK, which has suffered food shortages during the last few years as a result of natural calamities. In 2011, New Delhi provided food assistance worth USD one million through World Food Programme.
India's External Affairs Minister and Korea's Foreign Minister had last met at Bandar Seri Begawan on June 30, 2013 on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit.
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