Extraordinary And Plenipotentiary Diplomatist July 19 Edition .

GLOBAL CENTRE STAGE other ﬁ elds such as education, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. Thus, India and South Korea have undoubtedly deepened their relations in the last three decades and it could be evaluated positively. However, it could also be added that by looking from the vantage point of a huge convergence between the two countries, their performance has been less than satisfactory. It’s important to note that both the countries have no negative historical baggage and their economic complementaries are exceptional. The bilateral trade between India and South Korea has gone down after 2012 and it has only recovered to USD20 billion mark in 2017. The CEPA has not been very helpful in improving bilateral trade between the two countries and rather it is being blamed for the trade contraction. India has been too sensitive about its trade deﬁ cit which at the time reached almost USD10 billion and complain that South Korean manufacturing companies avoid joint ventures with Indian companies. Similarly, South Korea has been unhappy at the way a proposed investment of USD12 billion by POSCO in Odisha was caught into political and administrative controversies for more than a decade. India and South Korea announced to revise the CEPA in 2015 when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited South Korea but the process has not yet been completed. Even, in the political and strategic domains, it could be said that even though both countries have enhanced their Strategic Partnership to Special Strategic Partnership, the strategic content in it has been very thin. Apart from joint statements and mutual visits of both the countries in foreign and defence areas, there have not been any speciﬁ c bilateral goals identiﬁ ed. Actually, India has been dissatisﬁ ed that South Korea does not take an open stand on India’s claim for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council and the Indo-Paciﬁ c strategy. Similarly, South Korea feels that India should have a more open stance on its territorial and historical disputes with Japan. In recent years, both countries have made a concrete eﬀ ort to re-energize their relationship and try to confront these issues. India through its Act East Policy and South Korea through its New Southern Policy have been looking to move closer to each other in all possible domains and provide more content to their relationship. It is important to underline that both countries have emphasized people to people and cultural exchanges as the bedrock of their relationship, which would shape their approach towards each other in economic, political and strategic domains. Through the visits of the South Korean President Moon Jae-in July 2018, the ﬁ rst lady of South Korea in November 2018 and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2019, both the countries have been trying to bridge any perception gaps between the two countries and work together on issues of bilateral and regional concerns. The situation on the Korean Peninsula India has been invited to play a constructive role on the Korean peninsula by South Korea and the joint statements between the leaders of both the countries in 2014, 2015 and 2018 mention it very clearly. More speciﬁ cally, South Korea would like India to play an important role in the resolutions of the North Korean nuclear issue. India is one of the few countries which has sustained diplomatic relations with North Korea for decades and it has taken principled neutrality in the inter-Korean relations from the very inception of the two Koreas on the Korean peninsula. Indian goodwill capital might be useful in constructive intervention in the intricate denuclearization issue of North Korea. Actually, unlike previous Park Geun-hye administration of South Korea, Moon Jae-in administration wants to denuclearize North Korea through dialogue and diplomacy. Moon Jae-in is also interested in improving inter-Korean relations through his engagement policy. Incidentally, India’s approach towards North Korea has also been the same. India has constantly opposed North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and adhered to the resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council. However, India prefers diplomatic solutions for the problem by addressing the threat perception of both parties. South Korea’s present ruling dispensation has a similar policy orientation and there are realistic possibilities of cooperation between India and South Korea on the issue. However, it must also be realized that any support and cooperation from India to resolve the nuclear issues of the Korean peninsula must be a low-key aﬀ air as an overt involvement of India might enrage China, which considers the Korean peninsula as its own inﬂ uence zone, and rather than resolving the problem, India’s overt activeness might further complicate the issue. India and South Korea are also on the same page in arguing that along with the denuclearization of North Korea, the inter-Korean relations must also move forward to forge bilateral exchanges in all possible areas. The reuniﬁ cation of Korea is indeed an important goal but it must be pursued in an incremental and phased manner and it must not be threatening to both the regimes of the Korean peninsula. India has promised South Korea during recent high-level political exchanges in recent years that it is willing to use its good oﬃ ces to facilitate such possibilities. India and South Korea also share the understanding that coordinated and cooperative roles of regional powers of the Northeast Asia, along with the US, are prerequisites to establishing peace, stability and prosperity on the Korean peninsula and it must be articulated sincerely.  * Author is Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 22 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 7 • July 2019, Noida

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