India, Japan worried over North Korea's development of nuclear, ballistic missile programs

India and Japan on Saturday expressed their concern over North Korea's continued development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, including uranium enrichment activities. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, in a joint statement, strongly urged North Korea to take concrete actions towards the denuclearization as well as to fully comply with its international obligations, including under all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and its commitments under the 2005 six-party Talks Joint Statement. The two prime ministers also urged North Korea to address at the earliest, the humanitarian concerns of the international community. Shinzo Abe, who arrived in India on Saturday, hold meeting with Indian President and later with Prime Minister Singh. Abe would be also the chief guest on the India's republic day celebration on January 26. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their shared commitment to the total elimination of nuclear weapons. "Prime Minister Abe stressed the importance of bringing into force the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) at an early date. Prime Minister Singh reiterated India's commitment to its unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing," the statement said. Both prime ministers, the statement said, supported the strengthening of international cooperation to address the challenges of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. Abe and Singh expressed commitment to work together for India to become a full member in the international export control regimes: the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Missile Technology Control Regime, the Australia Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement, with the aim of strengthening the international non-proliferation efforts, the statement said. They reaffirmed the importance of civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries, while recognizing that nuclear safety is a priority for both Governments, it added.