Indian Foreign Minister Visits South Korea: Strengthening Look East Policy

(Baonghean.vn) - Indian Foreign Minister Xu-sma Xoa-rai arrived in South Korea yesterday (December 28) to begin an official visit to the country to promote the strategic partnership between the two countries.The visit is also part of the Indian Government's plan to implement the Look East policy, which has been implemented since the early 90s of the last century. In recent years, India has tightened its relations with East Asian and Southeast Asian countries, which has also helped the country increasingly demonstrate its position and voice in the Asia-Pacific region.

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. Source: newindianexpress.com

Today, Indian Foreign Minister Susma Sorai and his South Korean counterpart Dun Bung-se co-chaired the 8th meeting of the Korea-India Joint Committee, focusing on discussing cooperation in the fields of nuclear energy, defense investment and shipbuilding. In essence, in the spirit of the Eastward policy, Indian Foreign Minister Susma Sorai's visit to Korea this time is also aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries.

South Korea was one of the leading countries supporting the lifting of a three-decade-old embargo on civilian nuclear trade with India. Therefore, politically, for India, South Korea has now become one of its important and reliable partners in the Asian region. The two countries have almost no major conflicts and can fully cooperate with each other on many global issues including national and regional security. However, when mentioning India-South Korea relations, it is impossible not to mention the cooperation between the two countries in the economic field, especially nuclear power and shipbuilding.

South Korea’s support for lifting the previous ban on civil nuclear cooperation with India has made South Korea a “priority” country for investment in India in this field. Thus, it can be seen that cooperation between India and South Korea is a mutually beneficial cooperation. India sees in South Korea the development of technology, especially electronics technology, investment capital sources that can meet the development needs of the world’s second most populous country. South Korea can build new growth engines in India by taking advantage of many new business opportunities in this low-cost labor market and a market with the fourth largest purchasing power in the world.

India and South Korea established a strategic partnership in 2010, and the relationship is developing well. Along with the US's pivot to Asia policy, the close India-US and India-South Korea relations are creating a belt of connections in the Asia Pacific. Analysts predict that India and South Korea are now moving closer to the level of diplomatic relations at the alliance level, parallel to the US-South Korea alliance. Looking more broadly, India is also gaining sympathy from many East Asian countries with its policy of non-interference and mutual respect. India also has no direct conflict of interest with most East Asian countries. Therefore, it is not difficult for India to build close relations with countries in this region.

India's "Look East Policy" was announced by the country in 1992 and mainly focused on economic issues, but recently, India has paid attention to and participated in regional security activities. Therefore, in addition to strengthening economic and trade relations, India has also promoted security and defense cooperation with East Asian countries. More importantly, the more effective the Look East Policy is, the more India proves its position in the Asia-Pacific region, participating more in regional issues, something that in recent times, India has been somewhat "inferior" to China.

Nguyen Cao Bien