NEW DELHI--India's foreign minister defended the country's ties with North Korea and Iran during talks on Wednesday with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson aimed at building robust relations between the two giant democracies.
The Trump administration has launched a new U.S. effort to deepen military and economic ties with India as a way to balance China's assertive posture across Asia. At the talks with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, both sides pledged to strengthen anti-terrorism cooperation and Tillerson said Washington stood ready to provide India with advanced military technology.
"The United States supports India's emergence as a leading power and will continue to contribute to Indian capabilities to provide security throughout the region," Tillerson told a joint news conference with Swaraj.
But the talks also touched on India's diplomatic ties with North Korea, Swaraj said, at a time when the United States has stepped up efforts to isolate Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programmes. Swaraj said she told the top U.S. diplomat that some level of diplomatic presence was necessary to keep open channels of communication.
"As far as the question of embassy goes, our embassy there is very small, but there is in fact an embassy," she said. "I told Secretary Tillerson that some of their friendly countries should maintain embassies there so that some channels of communication are kept open."
India and North Korea maintain diplomatic offices in each other's capitals, though New Delhi recently banned trade of most goods with the country, except food and medicine. Trade was minimal, Swaraj said.
The focus on North Korea comes as U.S. President Donald Trump heads to China next month, where he is expected to urge President Xi Jinping to make good on his commitments to try to rein in North Korea.
Tillerson, who flew in from Pakistan which he called an important U.S. ally in the restive region, also held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is driving closer ties with the United States. But India, a former leading light of the Non-Aligned Movement and which was on the opposite side of the United States during the Cold War, still remains wary of any alliances with major powers lest it affect its autonomy.
India has also maintained ties with Iran which is being targeted by the Trump administration for its alleged military support of extremist groups in the Middle East and for its ballistic missile programme.
