Has Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi elevated Indo-Korean bilateral relationship to a new pedestal on his maiden visit to Seoul? Immediately after the signing of seven bilateral agreements during his South Korea trip last month, he said, “Our relationship started with a strong economic emphasis but it has also now become strategic in content.”
Not limiting himself to the dissemination of an erroneous statement, Modi went ahead with his social media propaganda and tried to emphasize that it was due to his visit that the “foundation for a relationship that two major Asian countries with shared values should have” was laid at long last.
India and South Korea have been strategic partners since 2010 when the then Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited New Delhi as the chief guest of India’s Republic Day celebrations. The occasion marked a turning point in the history of India-Korea relations because Lee’s visit provided a clear road-map for the strengthening of bilateral ties in five potential fields, namely, trade and commerce; science and technology; politics and security; social and cultural; regional and international issues.
In fact, President Lee and then Indian Premier Manmohan Singh jointly decided to institutionalize strategic communication channels between the two governments so that both New Delhi and Seoul can work to achieve regional peace and prosperity, eradicate terrorism, promote nuclear disarmament, prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and hasten the long due institutional reform of the United Nations. Besides, in 2010, mutual cooperation in the defense sector took a robust shape by the finalization of two memorandum of understanding, focusing on greater military-to-military interaction, coordination on security related issues, including classified intelligence sharing, as well as extensive collaboration in research and development of critical defense hardware.
Most importantly, Park Geun-hye — the current incumbent of South Korea’s Blue House — during her visit to India in 2014, oversaw the signing of agreements on cyber security collaboration and “Protection of Classified Military Information” aimed at coordinating information sharing and cooperative action on sensitive issues like nuclear and missile technology exchanges between Pakistan and North Korea. Moreover, President Park had herself acknowledged that under Manmohan Singh’s leadership Indo-Korean relationship reached a new height based on mutual trust and confidence. Singh was, in fact, instrumental in further deepening and expanding the bilateral economic partnership as he consented to a revision of the “2009 Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)” for increasing trade in goods and services as well as bolstering investments.
Singh was indeed convinced that CEPA could be expanded to automobile and its ancillary sectors apart from electronics; mining and engineering, including manufacturing in shipping and railways. Official data does suggest that in the post-CEPA period, economic cooperation has moved beyond trade and investment, into infrastructure development and financial sectors. Moreover, Singh’s government also facilitated export-credit agreement, strengthened bilateral cooperation in infrastructure financing and agreed to revise the double-taxation-avoidance pact to ease tax burden and prevent evasion. It was during Singh’s tenure New Delhi not only inked deals to promote future-oriented partnership on outer-space and nuclear energy, but also took concrete steps to augment the existing commercial air service, bolster tourism by providing visa on arrival and consolidate bilateral social interactions.
To promote cultural understanding, 2011 was marked as the “Year of India in Korea” and the “Year of Korea in India.” The unfortunate truth is there was more rhetoric, less substance in Modi’s recent Korea visit. Some elementary accords were signed, which normally does not require the presence of head of government, just to “show off Modi’s virtually non-existent statesman-like qualities.” Though, contentious issues that the Koreans would like to settle before investing in “Make in India” project were conveniently bypassed.
Alarmingly, in his ambitious bid to play all sides against one another in the strategic game of power and influence at the international level, Modi is all set to take his country down with him. While Modi admirers may be upbeat about his fabled ability to look at stronger powers in the eye, in reality, New Delhi is effectively tying itself in knots slowly but steadily. “Strategic relationship between nation states is a different ball game,” says an expert of India’s strategic intelligence with extensive knowledge of Southeast Asian geopolitics. “There are shades within shades in a geostrategic chessboard and you never know who is plotting what because of open opportunism,” pronounced the security expert authoritatively. He goes on to add, “Even foes may unite to mow you down if you are not alert and innovative in your maneuverings.”
Unfortunately, Modi drumbeaters, used to abusing critics at the drop of a hat, do not understand that the pronouncements that Modi made in Seoul is just an extension of Manmohan Singh’s policy of “aggressive outreach” to engage South Korea. Had Modi really been a statesman, he would have acknowledged his predecessor’s contribution in molding the Indo-Korean bilateral tie positively and taken up where Singh left off.
Modi, having shown the unusual penchant for denigrating his motherland with silly comments abroad, is yet to recognize that state-to-state relations gain momentum not by burying the past, but by building on the plinth rooted in the bygone era. Indeed, there is no denying that the Indo-Korea bilateral framework, developed painstakingly by the past administrations, had actually helped India move into the realm of geo-economics successfully, thus setting the stage for translating “Look East” into a robust “Act East” Policy.
