India–North Korea relations

Indian–North Korea relations

India	North Korea

India and North Korea have growing trade and diplomatic relations. India maintains an embassy in Pyongyang, and North Korea has an embassy in New Delhi. India has said that it wants the "reunification" of Korea

History

Korean War

India condemned North Korea as an aggressor when the Korean War started, supporting Security Council resolutions 82 and 83 on the crisis. However, India did not support resolution 84 for military assistance to South Korea. As a nonaligned country, India hesitated to involve itself in a military commitment against North Korea. Instead, India gave its moral support for the U.N action and decided to send a medical unit to Korea as a humanitarian gesture. The 60th Indian Field Ambulance Unit, a unit of the Indian Airborne Division, was selected to be dispatched to Korea. The unit consisted of 346-man including 14 doctors. India was appointed as chair of the 9-member UN Commission to hold elections in Korea in 1947; after the Korean War, India played an important role as the chair of the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission in the Korean peninsula.

Economic relations

In 2009 India exported roughly $1 billion to North Korea, up from an average of barely $100 million in the middle of the past decade, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry. Most of the exports are in refined petroleum products. The trade group says that North Korea's exports to India were a mere $57 million, including silver and auto parts.