U.S. prods India on Pyongyang:

U.S. prods India on Pyongyang:

Context:

India is facing increased pressure to reduce North Korea’s diplomatic presence in the country as Pyongyang flexes its military muscles.

Introduction:

• During talks with Indian officials last week, a U.S. State Department delegation took up the presence of a large number of North Korean diplomats in India, and urged New Delhi to “shrink” North Korea’s diplomatic footprint in South Asia
• India has criticized recent North Korean missile launches and nuclear tests. However, bilateral political and diplomatic ties, though minimal, have remained on track
• India’s relationship with North Korea is a remnant of its non-aligned past. But in recent years, India has highlighted the proliferation problem from North Korea

Modi’s visit:

• India and the U.S. have held talks on the North Korean actions most recently during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last month when both sides “condemned” Pyongyang’s actions.
• Both sides also indicated that they would work together to counter the DPRK’s weapons of mass destruction programmes.

Background:

• India has maintained ties with North Korea since the birth of the nation following the Korean War in the 1950s, and North Korea had been an active member of the Non-Alignment movement during the Cold War.
• However, bilateral ties cooled in the 1990s when Pakistan extended support to the country’s nuclear programme.
• The ties between Pakistan and North Korea were significant in the past, but it was no longer on the same platform.

Key points:

• The recent reports from Sri Lanka and Pakistan have indicated that North Korea has exploited export rules to earn much-needed foreign remittances.
• Another issue is the North Korean ability to attack political or diplomatic opponents across the world
• The US wanted India to help to look for North Korean activity in the Indian subcontinent.
• Responding to UN resolutions, the Indian government banned all trade (except food and medicines) with North Korea.
• India is the third largest trading partner for North Korea.
• At the G20 Summit in Hamburg which took under the shadow of Pyongyang’s ICBM test of July 4, 18 out of 20 countries issued strong statements condemning the test.