President Lee's Visit to India

The Korean president’s visit to India is full of symbolism. Since both countries established diplomatic ties in 1973, this will be the first time the Indian government has invited a Korean president to be a state guest at India’s Republic Day functions in New Delhi, which takes place on Jan 26.

This is India’s annual republic day function, to which only a close top world leader is invited as a chief guest. The very fact this Indian government decided to invite President Lee Myung-bak says something of Korea’s emerging importance in India’s strategic and economic status. Also, this is the third visit of a Korean president to India in the last 13 years. Not many other East Asian countries can claim to have this kind of political exchanges with India in recent years. India-Korea ties seem to have a force of their own.

Apart from the symbolism, an economic and business element was attached to President Lee’s visit to India. The visit comes at a time when Asian economies are facing a financial crunch and are going through very critical economic and structural adjustments. Asia’s traditional economic ties with the United States and Europe are weakening and intra-Asian trade and economic exchanges are growing at a fast pace. India, who traditionally had stronger ties with the West, is looking east and is engaging with East Asia like never before. It is estimated, with the current rate of engagement, that India’s economic exchange with the region will cross the $500 billion mark well before the end of 2020.

Bilateral trade between India and Korea has seen unprecedented growth in recent years. As an example of this, the trade volume between the two countries was just over $2.52 billion US dollars in 2001. In less than eight years it has reached more than $18 billion in 2009. For the last few years, trade is said to have grown 100 percent every year. The current phase of trade growth between the two countries is expected to reach $100 billion in next decade.

The recently signed CEPA is expected to give a big boost to the growth of trade ties between the two countries. It is being sold as the biggest milestone in the history of the two countries. Becoming operational from the beginning of this year, the agreement is expected to bring a paradigm shift between the two sides.

This agreement will play a big role in the expansion of Korean exports to India. With this agreement, the tariffs on Korean auto parts, the biggest export item to India, are to be reduced to 1 percent over an eight-year period from the current average of 12.5 percent. This will consolidate the Korean auto industry’s share in India. Furthermore, under this agreement, products made at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex will be regarded as products made in South Korean under the rules of origins laws. This is expected to give a big boost to inter-Korean economic ties and play a positive role in promoting peace on the Korean peninsula.

The Indian side is also expected to make a major gain from this agreement. India, who has a very large pool of talent and skilled workers, is expecting to find a ready market in Korea. Under the agreement, Korean companies will be able to hire professional workers such as computer programmers and engineers from India. More than 160 professions are allowed access to the Korean services market. This is the first time that Korea has agreed to such a commitment in its bilateral free trade agreements with any developing country. It is expected to open up opportunities for Indian English teachers and software engineers to work in Korea where the demand for these two professions is very high.

The governments of the two countries have identified many possible areas of cooperation. Some of the possible areas where the potential for cooperation is very high are health sciences, materials sciences, information technology, renewable energy, chemical technologies, medical sciences, biochemical technologies, engineering sciences, nutrition, food safety, transportation, robotics, higher education and space technology. Apart from economic cooperation, they have also been getting closer in the political and security fields. High-level political and diplomatic visits of top leaders have been growing between the two countries in recent years.

To make sure political ties grow alongside economic ties, both countries have established a “Long-term Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity.” And to give further boost to security ties, an India-ROK Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue was established to promote exchanges and interactions in the defense field, including the safety and security of international maritime traffic, cooperation between their navies, coast guard and related agencies.

Current global peace and securityrelated issues like terrorism, sea piracy and global warming are also bringing the two countries together like never before. Since the early days of the war against terrorism, Korea has been playing a very important role as a regional ally of the U.S. It sent its forces to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Both countries are finding themselves as natural partners.

It is playing a very active role in both Afghanistan and Iraq. There has very high potential for cooperation between India and Korea in the fight against terrorism. Sea piracy and the security of sea lanes of communication is also emerging as an important area of cooperation between the two countries. Korea has a very high stake in the peace and security of the Indian Ocean. Cooperating with India will ensure Korean ships have unrestricted sea lanes in the Indian Ocean.

The changing strategic balance of power scenario is also emerging as a factor in the relationship between the two countries. Korea, who has been looking for an outlet to avoid the emerging tussle between an emerging India and the United States, find in India a natural ally who is also concerned with the bad impact this power struggle will have on the stability of the region. Both India and Korea are trying to strengthen multilateral institutions to maintain peace in the very volatile and fast-changing region.

India has been looking towards the East for two decades now. But, so far, its focus was only on economic and trade ties. With the changing times it has started changing where it looks and has widened its perspective lately.