Remarks by Amb Amit Kumar at KIEP Conference (27 March 2025)
Dr. Siwook Lee, President of KIEP,
Distinguished Panelists,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Annyeong Hashimnikka, Namaste,
It is a great pleasure for me to join you all at this forum, deliberating on the importance of India-Korea Special Strategic Partnership in the Indo Pacific region.
I would like to convey my gratitude to the Korea Institute of International Economic Policy for partnering with us in realising today’s conference.
The last few years have seen multiple stresses on the global economy. One underlying issue was the consequences of over-concentrated manufacturing, as well as massive State subsidies and sectoral protections. The COVID pandemic put the spotlight on the fragility of global supply chains.
The Ukraine conflict led to additional concerns, especially pertaining to fuel, food and fertilisers, the cascading effect of which eventually spread across all sectors and geographies. The conflict in the Middle East, saw another dimension with disruptions in maritime shipping, particularly for the Asia-Europe maritime trade.
We are today witnessing a sharper geo-political contestation. We are today grappling with export controls on technology and rare earths, tariff wars and exports of over capacities. In the era of digital world and AI, the market rationale needs to be balanced by compulsions of privacy and security.
In this backdrop, the Special Strategic Partnership between India and Republic of Korea, established a decade ago, assumes greater salience bilaterally as well as in addressing regional and global challenges, including in the Indo-Pacific.
Looking back, in these ten years, we have undoubtedly progressed on multiple fronts. We established ministerial dialogues between foreign, finance and S&T ministries respectively.
We also set up consultation mechanisms at Vice-Minister and senior official levels spanning foreign policy, security, defence, disarmament, nuclear energy, consular issues, policy planning, etc. A roadmap for defence industry cooperation was concluded in 2020.
Our bilateral trade today is around USD 25 billion. The adverse trade deficit of USD 11 billion is, however, a cause for concern in India.
At the same time, there is much more that we can do together. For one, we need to hold consultations under different mechanisms with greater regularity.
I am happy to note that last year we commenced the trilateral dialogue with the US on technology cooperation and with Japan on policy planning issues.
The success of K9-Vajra artillery units and the second order for 100 K9-Vajra units will help catalyze further defence collaborations. Our national space agencies ISRO and KASA are close to finalizing their program of cooperation.
CEPA upgradation negotiations should be concluded early and ensure a fair and mutually beneficial trade of goods and services.
Over the last decade, India also witnessed the cumulative impact of making it easier to do business, relaxation in FDI norms, building a digital public infrastructure and through PM’s Gati Shakti program, expansion and upgradation of the physical infrastructure as well.
This has made ‘Make in India’ much more viable and credible. Our talent pool offers the attractions of research, design and innovation in India.
India with its rapid economic growth trajectory offers multiple opportunities to Korean companies in manufacturing, green energy, infrastructure, logistics, etc. Several developments reflect the growing Korean commitment to India.
These include opening of office by KIC - Korea’s National Sovereign Fund in India; unprecedented listing in India by Hyundai Motor Group - their only listing outside Korea and now LG Electronics gearing up for their IPO; POSCO-JSW JV to build a 5 million metric tons integrated steel plant for example.
There are substantive discussions underway to explore collaboration on shipbuilding, green hydrogen, EV batteries and charging infrastructure, electronics, textiles, etc. AI, data centres, semiconductors and SMRs would be other important areas for collaboration.
India’s human resources can help mitigate some of the demographic challenges that Korea faces today. We have entered into mobility partnerships with several EU countries and Japan. India and Korea must therefore also explore mechanisms for mobility partnerships.
Turning to the Indo-Pacific region, which we view as spanning from the Eastern shores of Africa to the Western shores of Americas, its importance can hardly be overemphasized given its centrality to global economic production, consumption, maritime trade and connectivity.
Our approach to this region was outlined by PM Modi at the Shangri La Dialogue in 2018, where he built on the theme of SAGAR, the Hindi word for ocean, but also standing for Security and Growth for All in the Region, first articulated by him in 2015 in Mauritius. Our approach encompasses the aspects of security, capacity building, collective action, sustainable development, maritime engagement and regional connectivity.
Several countries including RoK and groups have consequently announced their strategy and vision for the Indo-Pacific region. There are several convergences in our respective approaches.
The challenges that the littoral countries in the Indo-Pacific region face are well known and these include piracy, illegal fishing, drug and weapon smuggling, natural disasters and climate change.
In many countries, there is a lack of adequate capacity or capability. In quite a few cases, debt is a serious concern aggravated on account of unviable projects and predatory lending practices.
On our part, we are cooperating on coastal surveillance, collaborating in enhancing maritime domain awareness and building capacities in partner countries.
We also have a significant footprint of development cooperation in the region. India has entered into triangular cooperation with the US, Germany, UK, France and EU to offer development assistance in Africa and Latin America. Similar models could be considered by India and RoK in the Indo-Pacific.
In terms of Institution building, we have the Indian Ocean Rim
Association, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, all undertaking significant work in addressing some of the challenges that I have outlined.
Additionally, multistakeholder global initiatives such as the
International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) enhance engagement on addressing facets of the climate challenge including in the region.
I believe that all these groupings and organisations can certainly benefit from RoK’s expertise and experience in these areas.
The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the Mineral Security Partnership, where India and RoK are both members, are valuable frameworks to address some of the economic challenges that we face.
To conclude, India and RoK together can better withstand the global headwinds. Our partnership is crucial for development, mutual growth and prosperity and can positively contribute to addressing challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
I am confident that deliberations at this seminar will enable frank exchange of views, identify opportunities for collaboration as well as steps necessary to realize them.
Thank you
