ED Replacing China with India
2+2 meeting to level up Seoul-New Delhi ties
Korea and India have agreed to regularize their security meeting involving vice ministers of foreign and defense affairs in the so-called two-plus-two format. Korea has a similar format for meetings with the United States that involve ministers.
Also on the docket for Korea and India are meetings of deputy prime ministers for economy and trade, and industry ministers.
True, much of this bilateral interactivity has been scheduled but it is inevitable to review them in the context of the fraying ties with China, Korea’s No. 1 trading partner, as the result of Seoul’s decision to deploy U.S. missile interceptors and Beijing’s hypersensitive reaction in the form of trade retaliation.
It would be hard to dispute that India can countermand the effects of China’s withdrawal from Korea in the short term and provide an eventual alternative to Beijing as a key long-term strategic partner.
On the economic front, Korea and India have a lot of potential to exploit. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India is hitting a high gear for growth in comparison to China, being slowed down by the side effects of superhot growth: high wages, a property bubble and a rigid political system.
Besides, New Delhi strikes a marked difference with Beijing in a couple of key areas, most conspicuously, the absence of “historical baggage.”
Indian Ambassador Vikram Doraiswami told The Korea Times, “The two countries don’t have historical baggage so can start from a clean slate to do a lot for each other and the world.”
Also, the two are so economically structured that they can exchange technology and markets with each other for mutual benefit.
On top of that, India is a capitalism-based democracy that shares the same values such as respect for human rights and freedom of speech with Korea, contrary to Beijing that is at its core a one-party dictatorship with capitalist trappings, which is now turning into a one-man autocracy under President Xi Jinping. Korea has an added urgency to foster ties with India, considering its disastrous track record in its traditional focus on the four big powers in the region _ the United States, Japan, China and Russia. The biggest trap for this diplomatic infatuation is, as shown in the case of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), being habitually caught between a rock and a hard place.
India, Britain’s former colony, has long been trying to gain an independent voice in the global politics of big powers and can grow to be an ideal partner for Korea to make the world a more level playing field for middle and small power countries.
As Amb. Doraiswam pointed out, it is important for the two countries not to take each other for short-term gains. Korea has a tendency, also relevant in its external relations, to go all in for one country, and is paying heavily for it in the case of China.
A strategic alliance needs a lot of time to build with efforts to find common ground and reconcile differences with each other. For Korea, India is worth it. So for India, is Korea.