INDIA-KOREA - Asia-Pacific Business and Technology Report

Defense & STRATEGY
Military and Strategic Aspects for
Korea-India Relations
By Nicholas Hamisevicz
As leaders made their
way to South Korea
for the Nuclear
Security Summit in March
2012, President Lee Myungbak
of South Korea hosted
many of them for separate
bilateral meetings focusing
on enhancing the ties
between their respective
countries.
One of those important meetings was
with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of
India. Since 2010, South Korea and India
have had a strategic partnership, and the
meeting focused on ways to enhance their
relationship.
Demonstrating the importance of this
growing partnership, President Lee hosted
a banquet lunch for Prime Minister Singh
following their meeting. Both sides are
looking for ways across the entire spectrum
of bilateral interaction to sustain and enhance
their partnership; moreover, the two
leaders emphasized through the Joint Statement
the necessity for meetings that will
specifically help define and enhance the
military and strategic aspect of the Korea-
India relationship. Development in these
particular areas of the strategic partnership
will provide an important example of bilateral
cooperation during the Asian-Pacific
century.
The wording in the Joint Statement and
the subsequent reporting following Prime
Minister Singh’s visit to Korea suggest a desire
for both sides to have a big project or
achievement that would help carry the momentum
of the relationship into the next
administrations. This is more of an immediate
concern for President Lee, as his constitutionally
mandated single five-year term
finishes at the end of 2012.
Like many bilateral relationships in Asia,
trade and economics has brought South
Korea and India closer together. With an
increasing importance placed on economic
growth in both countries, some of the
shared security concerns between South
Korea and India stem from their economic
realities. A substantial portion of the energy
and trade both countries need flows
through the Persian Gulf and the Indian
Ocean. In the most recent Joint Statement,
the two sides called for the “need to actively
pursue consultations and cooperation in
the field of maritime safety and security.”
The potential for greater military and security
cooperation is there between South
Korea and India; however, in actuality the
connections so far have been limited.
The two countries have signed some
Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) for
defense and security cooperation. Additionally,
both India and South Korea had their
coast guards engage in exercises together
in July 2006. Although South Korea’s coast
© pib.nic.in
The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh arrives at the Seoul air
force base, to attend the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit on
March 24, 2012. Smt. Gursharan Kaur is also seen.
guards were beyond their normal territorial
range of responsibility, skills in disaster
relief and familiarity with Indian maritime
protocol were derived from the experience.
Both South Korea and India have navy vessels
fighting Somali pirates and protecting
their ships, so greater cooperation could occur
in this area as well.
The strategic partnership has the potential
to grow through military acquisitions
as South Korea is looking to expand its
defense exports industry and capabilities
while India is embarking on an ambitious
military modernization program. India will
soon purchase minesweepers from a South
Korean company, which will help replace
some of its older minesweeper fleet and
protect Indian harbors. South Korea was
hoping to build upon that success as its
KT-1 fighter trainer was amongst the final
candidates for a bid from the Indian military.
However, South Korea lost out to the
Swiss Pilatus PC-7 aircraft, and its appeal
was turned down as well.
Despite losing this bid, there will likely
be future opportunities for military acquisition
and cooperation. India will look to
continue to upgrade its navy as the strategic
focus shifts toward the Indo-Pacific region.
South Korea will look to its success with
the minesweepers and shipbuilding prowess
to win future contracts with the India
military. Korea has also started working on
unmanned aerial vehicles for export, which
could provide another avenue of military
interaction. Furthermore, the March 2012
Joint Statement listed potential opportunities
of collaboration in the areas of research
and development and manufacturing military
equipment. The document went on
to emphasize Korea’s desire “to increase
cooperation with India in the military and
defense industry.”
The development of the Korea-India strategic
partnership has helped move both
countries beyond their immediate neighborhoods
and become more relevant in
the regional and global context. However,
in the context of greater strategic relations
in Asia, the China factor looms large. Both
India and South Korea have important economic
relations with China yet possess complicated
security relations as well. This is especially
the case between China and India,
as the two rising powers compete for influence
in Asia and in the world. This competition
becomes contentious when Chinese
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INDIA-KOREA
Glorious Past Bright Future
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who traditionally sources their components
from Japanese companies. Indian
officials opine that, “Having the Koreans
in the fray also means India’s other nuclear
partners have to keep the price of their
reactors competitive.”
Analysts also perceive that the strategic
alliance with South Korea will give India
greater bargaining power with other
nuclear participants in terms of costs
as well as technologies, given the wide
scope of India’s nuclear energy program.
India is also hoping for greater goodwill
with South Korea, and diplomats
from both the countries are confident of
South Korea’s support on India’s inclusion
in the Nuclear Suppliers Group as
well as the Missile Technology Control
Regime.
Additionally, both the countries have
jointly endorsed the entry of the US as
well as Russia in the East Asia Summit
(EAS), which is backed by ASEAN. They
are also looking forward to trilateral discussions
at the Track-II level where Japan
would be the third participant.
The two countries also agreed to cooperate
on political and economic security
in the region as well as work towards
maintaining regional stability.
Growing Concerns on North
Korea’s Nuclear Capabilities
As North Korea’s nuclear capabilities
grow, it is being regarded by both countries
with great caution. The rogue nation’s
long-range rocket launcher is continuing
to raise security as well as safety
concerns with both nations, and the
respective leaders chose to address this
situation with categorical statements of
maintaining regional balance.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said
that, “Nothing should be done which
increases tensions in the region and violates
the relevant U.N. Security Council
resolutions.” The South Korean premier
seconded the notion and highlighted the
two countries joint-stand against such
disruptive forces in the region.
Bilateral Trade Boosted
Bilateral trade between the two countries
too has received a boost following
the premier’s visit along with effective
deployment of the Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement. Over a
two-year journey, the trade volumes have
grown significantly, by nearly 70-percent,
today reaching over US$20 billion. The Indian
Prime Minister said that, “President
Lee and I agreed that our strong economic
ties are fundamental to our growing
interaction. We have therefore set a new
target of US$40 billion by 2015. We also
agreed to accelerate work in progress to
upgrade the partnership agreement and
make it more ambitious.”
To ease the movement of people between
the two countries, an agreement
was also drawn to simplify visa procedures.
It may now be said that strategic ties
hold the key. As India and South Korea
renew their economic and bilateral trade
opportunities, both are committed to optimizing
strategic alliances so as to redefine
their roles in the Asian Century. A-P