India to Expand Strategic Partnership with South Korea

March 7, 2024

During the 10th India-South Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) held in Seoul on March 6, 2024, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar expressed India’s desire to expand its strategic partnership with South Korea into new areas such as critical and emerging technologies, semiconductors, and green hydrogen. The meeting, co-chaired by Jaishankar and his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul, aimed to make the bilateral ties more contemporary and comprehensive.

Comprehensive and Productive Discussions

The JCM covered a wide range of topics, including cooperation in defense, science and technology, trade, people-to-people exchange, and cultural cooperation. The two sides also discussed advancing trilateral cooperation and exchanged views on developments in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Elevating the Strategic Partnership

In his opening remarks, Jaishankar highlighted the special strategic partnership between India and South Korea, which was established during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to South Korea in 2015. He emphasized the importance of living up to this partnership and noted the steady growth in bilateral exchanges, trade, investments, defense, and science and technology cooperation.

Expanding into New Areas of Cooperation

India expressed keen interest in expanding the partnership into new areas, such as critical and emerging technologies, semiconductors, green hydrogen, human resource mobility, nuclear cooperation, and supply chain resilience. These areas of cooperation are expected to make the bilateral ties more contemporary and relevant to the current global landscape.

The two nations have witnessed a growing convergence of their views in international fora, particularly regarding the Indo-Pacific region. Both India and South Korea have stakes in the stability, security, and prosperity of the region, making it a crucial point of focus for their partnership.

India has approached the joint commission with optimism and expectation, acknowledging the enormous goodwill between the two nations. He stressed the importance of translating this goodwill into practical outcomes, guided by the discussions between the leaders of both countries during their meetings in Hiroshima and New Delhi last year.

Cultural and Educational Cooperation

During his visit to Seoul, Indian External Affairs minister also met with Gimhae City Mayor Hong Tae-yong and discussed greater cultural and educational cooperation with Gimhae City. He highlighted the Gimhae-Ayodhya connect as a testament to the shared cultural heritage and longstanding people-to-people relations between the two nations, referring to the legendary story of Queen Heo Hwang-ok (Princess Suriratna) from Ayodhya who married King Kim Suro in Korea some 2,000 years ago.

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