Govt Appoints New Ambassadors To North Korea, Guinea

Longkumer is presently posted as charge d’affaires (ad-interim) at the Embassy of India in Paraguay, and is expected to assume his new posting in Pyongyang shortly. 

The last Indian ambassador to North Korea was 2004-batch IFS officer Atul Malhari Gotsurve, who served there till the embassy was closed down in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Longkumer’s appointment to North Korea is an indication of the importance India attaches to maintaining steady diplomatic engagement with the country, amid complex geopolitical dynamics in the Korean peninsula. 

As ambassador, Longkumer will be responsible for managing India’s limited but historically significant diplomatic presence in North Korea, and advancing mutual cooperation, in line with India’s principled foreign policy stance. India and North Korea have shared cordial diplomatic ties since the early 1960s. 

Longkumer's appointment signals India’s diplomatic re-engagement with the isolated country, at a time when its tensions with the US have been escalating. Despite this, India has continued to maintain a balanced and measured approach in its ties with Pyongyang. 

In adherence with UN-imposed sanctions, India suspended trade with North Korea in 2017. However, this move — along with North Korea’s perceived support for Pakistan’s missile development programme — did not lead to a break in diplomatic relations between the two countries.

As India continues to assert itself as a responsible stakeholder in global security, maintaining channels of dialogue with countries like North Korea reflects a nuanced approach to diplomacy — one that balances national interest with international responsibility.

Sood’s appointment as India’s ambassador to the Republic of Guinea reflects India’s deepening diplomatic outreach in West Africa. In an official statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “Sandeep Sood (YOA: 2009), presently Director in the Ministry, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Guinea.”

Sood is a seasoned diplomat currently involved in key policy planning and international cooperation initiatives. He is expected to take up the new assignment shortly. He has held several important assignments in the MEA and Indian missions abroad.

His appointment is seen as a strategic decision by the government to place experienced diplomats in West Africa, where India aims to scale up engagement.