India needs to engage more pointedly with South Korea, Japan, the United States and even bilaterally with DPRK to convey its concerns regarding the latter’s strategic cooperation with Pakistan.
Titli Basu replies: The ‘views’ of a nation concerning another sovereign state are shaped by several variables such as the national interest, ideological orientation, security concerns and strategic goals, historical experiences, economic imperatives and shared values.
South Korean president Park Geun-hye visited India in January 2014 after India and South Korea marked 40 years of diplomatic relations the previous year.1 These developments symbolise a burgeoning relationship between two of Asia’s leading economies and democracies. However, they have added significance as Asia undergoes a shift in the strategic balance of power.
South Korean President’s visit has initiated a common vision and a roadmap between the two countries based on political cooperation, open economic and trade environment and deeper cultural understanding. India’s growing emphasis on its ‘Look East Policy’ and South Korea’s ‘New Asia Diplomatic Initiative’ is pushing the relationship to one of ‘strategic partnership.’
As the first decade of the 21st century ended, India-Republic of Korea (ROK) relationship has assumed robustness in almost all dimensions – political, cultural and economic. As both countries enter the new year, a new dimension – security and strategic – that began in the preceding decade is likely to be seen in the expanding military cooperation, that began in the closing months of the preceding year. The foundation for such a relationship is already in place as both countries have identified a convergence of interests.
The sculpting of a strategic partnership and inking of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement show that South Korea is keen to engage India on matters where their mutual interests converge.
Rajaram Panda replies: India’s role in the recent developments in the Korean peninsula is limited. True, South Korea is one of our major trading partners and India is sympathetic to South Korean cause vis-à-vis North Korea. In fact, the MEA appreciated the restraint with which South Korea handled the findings of the investigation team that found Pyongyang’s hand in the sinking of South Korean naval vessel Cheonan in March 2010. While India has diplomatic relations with North Korea, it is concerned about Pyongyang’s suspected nuclear links with Myanmar and Pakistan. Our economic ties with South Korea are strong. South Korea’s commitment in the Indian market can be discerned from the fact that POSCO has not withdrawn from the over Rs. 50,000 crore steel project from Orissa despite it failure to acquire the 5,000 acres of land for the project. Therefore political turbulence in the Korean peninsula will have little impact on Indo-South Korean economic ties and India’s role will remain limited in the political domain.
The India-South Korea bilateral relationship is a remarkable example of how trade is the primary driver in global relationships. Ideology, which marked international relations in the previous decades, has given way to trade - which now is the international marker for relations. An important watershed in the relationship will be the beginning of construction for the POSCO integrated steel plant, which is slated to begin in April 2007 and would constitute the single largest foreign investment in India at US$ 12 b.
DPRK’s Nuclear Provocations and the Indian Response
India needs to engage more pointedly with South Korea, Japan, the United States and even bilaterally with DPRK to convey its concerns regarding the latter’s strategic cooperation with Pakistan.