CAPS-ISDP Joint International Seminar on India and South Korea in the Age of Indo-Pacific: Why Minilateralism Matters?
Friday 25 August 2023 / 08:30 - 16:15 /
New Delhi Conference Hall, Air Force Auditorium. Subroto Park, New Delhi.
2023 is a landmark year for India-South Korea relations, since it marks 50 years of their diplomatic ties. In recent years, the India-Republic of Korea (RoK) partnership has advanced significantly, evolving into a truly multifaceted connection. This progress has been driven by a substantial alignment of interests, reciprocal positive sentiments, and frequent high-level interactions.
Against this background, this event aims to initiate a discussion on the emerging India-South Korea bilateral partnership, the complementarities and differences in their Indo-Pacific outlooks, and how they can build a stronger bilateral, minilateral and multilateral connect. Through an exploration of the various sectors spanning the India-ROK partnership, it looks to shed light on the potential for greater collaboration between the two middle powers through the ambit of their Indo-Pacific policies. As major Asian economies, with an emerging political will to expand their defence and security cooperation, both countries are poised to jumpstart their cooperation in trade and defence. In March 2023, Indian and South Korean air crews interacted with each other at a multilateral air exercise in the UAE. Building on such interactions, this event seeks to delve into a discussion of how both partners can transform their warm friendship into a strong, strategic and global partnership. In particular, it focuses on how minilateral forums – the increasingly popular instruments of international cooperation and governance – can help bring about such a transformation.
This event falls under the MOU signed in 2022 between the Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS) and the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) of the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) in Sweden to engage in academic research and collaboration. With addresses by high-level dignitaries – including India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Secretary (East) of the Ministry of External Affairs, Ambassador of India to ROK, and Ambassador of Korea to India, and former Foreign Minister of South Korea – this event hopes to take forward a future-oriented India-ROK partnership. This event is supported by the Korea Foundation, South Korea.