Quiet diplomacy! Aliawati Longkumer is India's ambassador to North Korea 

PYONGYANG: Aliawati Longkumer will assume office as India's new ambassador to North Korea after New Delhi reached a diplomatic détente with Pyongyang after four long years.

Aliawati Longkumer is now the Charge d’affaires at the Indian Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay. He is expected to take up the assignment in Pyongyang shortly. Atul Malhari Gotsurve was the last Indian ambassador in North Korea before the embassy was shut down during the pandemic four years back.

Conforming with UN-imposed sanctions, India halted trade deals with North Korea in 2017. Nor did this decision or even Pyongyang's implicit support of Pakistan’s missile development programme rupture India's diplomatic relationship with Pyongyang.

India’s quiet diplomacy to reestablish connections with North Korea comes amidst Pyongyang’s over-subservience to China and its heightened discord with the US. As per geopolitical experts, this is nothing short of a hawk-eyed move to create a functional relationship with Pyongyang so as to eclipse Beijing’s dominance in this region.