India raised eyebrows last month when its junior foreign minister, V K Singh, visited Pyongyang and held meetings with several top-level North Korean ministers and government officials.

It was the first visit by a senior Indian official to North Korea in 20 years, although the two countries have maintained backchannel diplomatic communication for decades.

Political observers and international relations experts say that Singh's North Korea visit was not a random diplomatic outreach to the communist country but a part of New Delhi's ongoing efforts to retain a working relationship with the reclusive nation.

Singh's two-day visit was also a symbolic commemoration of the 45-year-long diplomatic relations between India and North Korea.

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Historic ties

India comes right after China as North Korea's second-biggest trade partner among all other countries who maintain trade relations with the communist state. India makes up about 3.5 percent ($97 million, €83 million) of North Korea's exports and 3.1 percent ($97 million) of its imports, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Observatory of Economic Complexity.

"India-North Korea ties are a legacy from India's non-aligned status during the Cold War," Abhijnan Rej, a research fellow at the New Delhi-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation, told DW. "After the end of the Cold War, India did not hesitate to engage with countries the West deemed 'problematic,' including North Korea," Rej added.

Tensions have spiked on the Korean Peninsula in the past few years, with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's regime threatening the stability of the region with nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

But does India have the clout to mediate between North Korea and the West?

"It is unclear what role India can play to bring Pyongyang closer to the international community. I think India considers the possibility of a real thaw between the US and North Korea an opportunity to engage with Pyongyang for the sake of its own interests," Rej said, referring to the efforts by Washington and Pyongyang to organize talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim in Singapore.

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The Indian government believes it should increase its engagement with North Korea should the international sanctions begin to ease.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Coal and iron In August 2017, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution banning all coal, iron, iron ore and lead imports from North Korea. Pictured here is China's Liaoning Greenland Energy Coal Co. in Dandong, on the border with North Korea.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Currency North Korea is prohibited from opening banks abroad, and UN member states are prohibited from operating financial institutions on Pyongyang's behalf. Any dealings that might help North Korea skirt the sanctions are banned, and UN member states must expel and repatriate anyone working on the regime's financial behalf.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Shipping This North Korean cargo ship found itself boarded for inspection in the Philippines in March 2016 after the United Nations ordered member nations to de-register any vessel owned, operated or crewed on orders from Pyongyang. North Korean ships also cannot fly the flags of other nations to evade sanctions.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Air travel Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, remains exempt from aviation sanctions and still has scheduled flights to China and Russia, as well as several domestic routes. However, the airline cannot fly to the European Union, which has banned it on safety grounds, and the United States prevents citizens from legally conducting business with the carrier.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Fuel In December 2017, a new raft of UN sanctions targeted fuel imports in North Korea, meaning its residents could have difficulties driving the country in Pyeonghwa sedans (pictured above). The sale and transfer of diesel and kerosene are limited while the import of crude oil is capped at 4 million barrels a year.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Bank accounts, real estate UN sanctions limit North Korea's diplomats abroad — at the country's Berlin embassy, for example — to only one bank account each. North Korea is also not permitted to own real estate abroad for any purposes other than consular.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Military training It's a safe bet that North Korea's marching military did not learn its moves abroad: UN sanctions ban foreign security forces from training the country's army, police or paramilitary units. The United Nations does permit medical exchanges, but otherwise allow very little assistance of scientific or technical value.

Guns, gold and gas: What UN sanctions target North Korea? Statues Anyone wanting to own a larger-than-life Kim will have to await the end of North Korea's nuclear program. The UN sanctions currently ban the sale of statues by the nation.



Concern about nuclear proliferation

Experts rule out India's active intervention in North Korea's nuclear negotiations though. New Delhi, however, is worried about Pyongyang's alleged nuclear cooperation with India's South Asian rival, Pakistan.

In 2004, the "founder" of Pakistan's nuclear bomb A Q Khan confessed to selling nuclear technology to North Korea and Iran.

Read more: Is Pakistan's nuclear stock safe?

Without naming any country, North Korea assured the touring Indian minister that "as a friendly country DPRK [the Democratic People's Republic of Korea] will never allow any action that would create concerns for India's security," according to a press statement.

Jagannath Panda, a North Korea expert associated with the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, told DW that India is the only country that has been demanding the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula since the 1990s. The country has also been raising concerns about the nuclear proliferation network that Pakistan and North Korea are allegedly part of.

"India's choices are limited in the region. It is not a permanent member of UN Security Council, it is not a part of the six-party Korea dialogue, and none of the stakeholders in the Korean conflict – South Korea, China, Japan and the US – are interested in New Delhi's role," Panda said.

But analyst Rej said that Singh's North Korea visit was a signal from India to the international community that it is a major stakeholder in the Asian security architecture and that it will not sit on the sidelines of major world events.

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