India pitches for talks to resolve Korean crisis

The country on Friday favoured negotiations and not force to resolve differences in the Korean peninsula even as South threatened to hit back with air strikes at the North should the regime launch another assault.

The country on Friday favoured negotiations and not force to resolve differences in the Korean peninsula even as South threatened to hit back with air strikes at the North should the regime launch another assault.

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"India believes that peaceful negotiations rather than the use of force, should be the basis for addressing differences between States," external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said in reply to a question.

He deplored the loss of lives in the shelling by North Korea on an island bordering South Korea, and pitched for peaceful negotiations for resolving differences between the two countries.

Prakash said that the country appreciated the "maturity and restraint" displayed by South Korea in handling the situation with a view to maintaining peace and stability in the region.

This is the second statement issued by the country after two people were killed in shelling by North Korea on the Yeonpyeong Island on November 23.

"We are pained at the tragic loss of life in this deplorable incident," he said adding that India was closely following the developments in the Korean peninsula in the aftermath of the recent shelling.

South Korea's military had counter-attacked with artillery fire after the North shelled the border island late in November.

South Korea on Friday said that it will hit back with air strikes at the North and "punish the attacker thoroughly" should the regime launch another assault.

The tough words came as the largest ever US-Japan war games kicked off in waters off the tense Korean peninsula, and as the UN's atomic watchdog voiced "great concern" about the North's nuclear ambitions.