VLADIVOSTOK, Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he thought the North Korea crisis would not escalate into a large-scale conflict involving nuclear weapons, predicting that common sense would prevail.
But he said he believed North Korea’s leadership feared any freeze of its nuclear program would be followed by what amounted to “an invitation to the cemetery.”
Putin, speaking at an economic forum in the far eastern Russian port of Vladivostok alongside his South Korean counterpart and the Japanese prime minister, had previously warned that simmering tensions around Pyongyang’s missile program could tip into “global catastrophe.”
But on Thursday, after days of talks with regional leaders and officials, Putin struck a more optimistic note, saying Russia could see that the administration of US President Donald Trump wanted to defuse tensions around North Korea.
“I am sure that things will not go as far as a large-scale conflict, especially with the use of weapons of mass destruction,” Putin told delegates at the forum.
“All the competing sides have enough common sense and understanding of their responsibility. We can solve this problem through diplomatic means.”
Russia has a land border with North Korea less than 20 km (12 miles) long.
Putin, who was sharing a platform with South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has spent the past few days pushing for negotiations, calling on all sides to dial down rhetoric.
The United States wants the UN Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its , and subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
Putin gave no indication on Thursday whether Moscow would back that resolution; but he and top Russian government officials have previously condemned the idea of tightening sanctions and shown little enthusiasm to stop modest fuel exports to Pyongyang or send home North Korean workers.
’IMPOSSIBLE TO SCARE THEM’
Instead, Russia, along with China, has advocated a “freeze for freeze” plan, under which the United States and South Korea would stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs.
Neither side appears willing to budge so far however.
Putin said Pyongyang would not end its nuclear and missile programs because it viewed them as its only means of self-defense.
“It’s impossible to scare them,” said Putin.
Pyongyang was being offered the prospect of no new sanctions if it froze its weapons programs, but Putin said North Korea believed the wider risks to its own security outweighed the potential economic benefits of such a concession.
“We are telling them that we will not impose sanctions, which means you will live better, you will have more good and tasty food on the table, you will dress better,” said Putin. “But the next step, they think, is an invitation to the cemetery. And they will never agree with this.”
Putin thinks North Korea crisis will not go nuclear, diplomacy to prevail
Putin thinks North Korea crisis will not go nuclear, diplomacy to prevail
India accelerates free trade agreements against backdrop of US tariffs
- India signed a CEPA with Oman on Thursday and a CETA with the UK in July
- Delhi is also in advanced talks for trade pacts with the EU, New Zealand, Chile
NEW DELHI: India has accelerated discussions to finalize free trade agreements with several nations, as New Delhi seeks to offset the impact of steep US import tariffs and widen export destinations amid uncertainties in global trade.
India signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Oman on Thursday, which allows India to export most of its goods without paying tariffs, covering 98 percent of the total value of India’s exports to the Gulf nation.
The deal comes less than five months after a multibillion-dollar trade agreement with the UK, which cut tariffs on goods from cars to alcohol, and as Indian trade negotiators are in advanced talks with New Zealand, the EU and Chile for similar partnerships.
They are part of India’s “ongoing efforts to expand its trade network and liberalize its trade,” said Anupam Manur, professor of economics at the Takshashila Institution.
“The renewed efforts to sign bilateral FTAs are partly an after-effect of New Delhi realizing the importance of diversifying trade partners, especially after India’s biggest export market, the US, levied tariff rates of up to 50 percent on India.”
Indian exporters have been hit hard by the hefty tariffs that went into effect in August.
Months of negotiations with Washington have not clarified when a trade deal to bring down the tariffs would be signed, while the levies have weighed on sectors such as textiles, auto components, metals and labor-intensive manufacturing.
The FTAs with other nations will “help partially in mitigating the effects of US tariffs,” Manur said.
In particular, Oman can “act as a gateway to other Gulf countries and even parts of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa,” and the free trade deal will most likely benefit “labor-intensive sectors in India,” he added.
The chances of concluding a deal with Washington “will prove to be difficult,” said Arun Kumar, a retired economics professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“With the US, the chances of coming to (an agreement) are a bit difficult, because they want to get our agriculture market open, which we cannot do. They want us to reduce trade with Russia. That’s also difficult for India to do,” he told Arab News.
US President Donald Trump has threatened sanctions over India’s historic ties with Moscow and its imports of Russian oil, which Washington says help fund Moscow’s ongoing war with Ukraine.
“President Trump is constantly creating new problems, like with H-1B visa and so on now. So some difficulty or the other is expected. That’s why India is trying to build relationships with other nations,” Kumar said, referring to increased vetting and delays under the Trump administration for foreign workers, who include a large number of Indian nationals.
“Substituting for the US market is going to be tough. So certainly, I think India should do what it can do in terms of promoting trade with other countries.”
India has free trade agreements with more than 10 countries, including comprehensive economic partnership agreements with South Korea, Japan, and the UAE.
It is in talks with the EU to conclude an FTA, amid new negotiations launched this year for trade agreements, including with New Zealand and Chile.
India’s approach to trade partnerships has been “totally transformed,” Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said in a press briefing following the signing of the CEPA with Oman, which Indian officials aim to enter into force in three months.
“Now we don’t do FTAs with other developing nations; our focus is on the developed world, with whom we don’t compete,” he said. “We complement and therefore open up huge opportunities for our industry, for our manufactured goods, for our services.”
