India on Thursday welcomed the just-concluded summit in Vietnam's Hanoi city between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, expressing hope that the continued engagement between the two countries would pave the way for lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula.
"India welcomes continued engagement between the United States and DPRK and hopes to see these discussions paving the way for lasting peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula," external affairs ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a statement.
"India has consistently supported all efforts to bring about peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula through dialogue and diplomacy," he added.
Earlier today, the two-day meeting ended abruptly as Trump and Kim failed to reach an agreement on North Korea's denuclearisation.
In a statement, the White House said that the two leaders had "very good and constructive" meetings in Hanoi and discussed various ways to advance denuclearisation and economic driven concepts.
"No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future," it added.
The closely-watched Hanoi summit was expected to yield an agreement on North Korea's denuclearisation. Trump, though, had earlier downplayed hopes for a breakthrough in nuclear talks at the start of the meeting.
During the talks, Trump called the talks productive, adding that the relationship is "as good as it's ever been". He also referred to North Korea as an "economic powerhouse" and called Kim as a "great leader."
Kim further asserted that the "outside world" has "misunderstood" the US-North Korean relationship in the period after the Singapore summit. He also expressed hope that the Hanoi summit delivers "an outcome welcome by everyone."
Trump and Kim had met for the first time at Sentosa Island in Singapore last June, wherein the two leaders agreed to work towards achieving "fully verifiable" denuclearisation.
North Korea's commitment to dismantle its nuclear weapons programmes was hailed as a major stride by the international community.
However, ties between the US and North Korea hit a roadblock over the ease of sanctions, where Pyongyang sought relief in economic sanctions as recognition of the steps taken towards denuclearisation.
Washington has, until now, reinforced that relief in sanctions would only be given after the communist country carries out complete denuclearisation.
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