Q 1.  We understand that you have arrived Seoul  in early 2012. How has your Seoul life been so far?

 Ans.  The only place that I wanted to be posted to this time, was Seoul. I am very happy that my Government accommodated my request.  I could not have chosen better.  My wife and I are fully settled and enjoying our tenure in this wonderful country.

 Q 2.   Is this your first posting in East Asia? How is your impression on Korea and its people?

 Ans.  This is my fourth posting in East Asia, having already served in Vladivostok in Russia, Japan and China.  I am convinced that India’s destiny is closely linked with East Asia.  I have always been fascinated by Korea’s history, its culture and its fiercely independent people.  I can feel a palpable energy in the air ever since coming to Seoul.  I am particularly, struck by ‘can do spirit’ as well as, the sense of humour and hospitality of the Korean people.

Q 3.   It is much easier than before to encounter Indian people in streets of Korea, wearing office badges of Korean companies rushing to work in the morning. It feels the two countries have become closer than ever before – Please tell us your view on this.

 Ans.  Presence of Indians in Korea and that of Koreans in India is growing steadily, which is very natural given the momentum that our relations have acquired.

Q 4.   How many Indian people are currently living in Korea? And, what is the most common job area of the Indian people in Korea?

 Ans.  We have over 8000 people of Indian origin in Korea.  Most of them are young and highly educated.  They include engineers, especially IT as well as mechanical and electrical who work with Korean chaebols, scholars, teachers, executives with multi-national companies and businessmen.

Q 5.   We understand that India introduced ‘Look East Policy’ approximately twenty years ago, under the leadership of then Prime Minister Shri. Narasimha Rao – We wonder if there has been a change in your policy toward East Asia since. Especially we are wondering about India’s relationships with China and Japan as the former is a country who enjoys greatest volume of trade with India while also posing sources of territorial disputes, and the latter enjoying close economic and security ties.

Ans.  History is witness that culturally, economically and politically, India has been an Asia Pacific nation.  ‘Look East’ is central to our foreign policy.  In the last twenty years, our ties with the ASEAN and East-Asian region have been transformed.  In fact, the first ever India ASEAN Commemorative Summit would be held in New Delhi on 20-21 December 2012, though annual summits have been taking place for the last decade, on the margins of ASEAN Summits.

China is our biggest neighbour with whom we share a 4000 km long border.  It has become our largest trading partner in goods though USA is our biggest business partner trade in goods and services, of over $100 billion. We seek cordial and cooperative ties with China.  India sees the rise of China more an opportunity than a challenge.  While convergences are growing, we do have outstanding boundary and security issues, which are being addressed through the mechanism of Special Representatives.  It is noteworthy that India – China border has been tranquil for the last 20 years.

Q 6.   In particular, India has maintained successful partnership with Japan with vibrant economic ties and high-level exchanges. Japan is investing huge in Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) while also moving proactively for Chennai-Delhi Industrial Corridor plan. What do you think are the economic and security reasons that make these two countries so close together?

 Ans.  India and Japan maintain excellent relations.  A ‘Strategic and Global Partnership’ was formalized between the two countries in 2006.  Whatsmore  both with democratic South Korea and Japan, India enjoys issue-free ties.  We would want to see even closer cooperation among democracies in the region including Australia and USA.  Japan is a major source of development assistance and technology into India.  The Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor (DMIC) is one of the biggest infrastructure and industrial development initiatives of independent India.  We are keen to see world-renowned Korean companies actively participating in DMIC.  The economic and security interests of India and Japan converge as do our interests with Korea.  I may note that a three-way track-2 dialogue between India, Japan and Korea has already been initiated. The first round took place in New Delhi in June 2012.

Q 7.   How significant is Korea in the Indian government’s policy for the East Asia?

Ans.  Korea is a key factor in our Look East Policy.  There is no conflict of interest between our nations, who enjoy a similarity of outlook and challenges.  As such, both countries elevated their ties to the level of Strategic Partnership during the landmark visit of President Lee Myung-bak in January 2010.

Q 8.   Please introduce any Indian names that we should remember in celebrating the 40th anniversary of India-Korea diplomatic relationship in 2013.

 Ans.  The name of Noble Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore straightway comes to mind.  In his poem ‘Lamp of the East’ in 1929, he had prophesized a great future for Korea.  Our relations go back two millennia, to the journey of an Indian Princess from Ayodhya to Korea in 48 A.D., who married King Kim Suro and became Queen Huh Hwang-ok.  Mr K P S Menon of  India, as the Chairman of the 9-member UN Commission set up in Nov 1947, oversaw the first free and fair elections in South Korea. The 60th Indian Parachute Field Ambulance Unit (medical mission) led by Lt. Col. A G Rangaraj gave a good account of itself during the 1950-53 Korean conflict.   Lieutenant General K.S. Thimayya of India, served as the the chairman of the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission, after the armistice and is held in high respect in this country.

Q 9.   How would you evaluate the bilateral relationship between India and Korea for 40 years – Can we say ‘satisfactory?’

 Ans.  India – Korea relations are on a roll.  High-level contacts are flourishing.  We  not only had the visit of President Lee Myung-bak to India in 2010, but also that of the Indian President to Korea in July 2011 and Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh in March 2012.  A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was concluded in 2010.  Our ties have become truly multi-faceted.

Q 10. It was impressive to hear the visit of Indian vessels to a port of Busan earlier this year as well as the opening of the Indian Defence Wing in Korea, which are clear signs of escalated relationship between Korea and India. It seems as though the relationship entered into a new phase, improving the quality of the relationship – How do you see this progress?

 Ans.  Both India and South Korea are confronted with a difficult security environment.  It is in our mutual interest to have close defence ties in order to exchange information, experiences, technology etc.  Both India and Korea are also looking at the possibility of sourcing defence equipment as well as transfer of technology and possibly joint production.  The Defence Minister of South Korea Mr. Kim Kwan Jin paid a very successful visit to India earlier this month. In September 2010, the Defence Minister of India had paid an official visit to Korea.

Q 11. Indian companies have made successful case of entering Korean market through Tata Motors and Ssangyong. Particularly Ssangyong, despite labour dispute, is making slow steps to recovery, led by Indian business leaders. How do you evaluate the results of investment made by Indian companies to Korea?

 Ans.  The global footprint of Indian multi-national companies is growing steadily.  They are also actively investing abroad.  The figure for 10 years upto 2011 was US $ 129 billion.  A number of big Indian names are happy to be present in the quality-conscious Korean market.  They do have challenges, but remain quite optimistic.  Some of the Indian IT majors, who are in Korea do seek greater access to the domestic market.

Q.12  How do you assess the progress of bilateral trade after signing of CEPA? What is your response to those who insist partial update of CEPA in order to further promote bilateral trade?

 Ans.  After the operationalization of CEPA in January 2010, bilateral trade grew 70 per cent in the first two years to cross $ 20 billion in 2011. Both countries are encouraged by the progress and have established a trade target of $ 40 billion by 2015. We have also agreed on a mechanism of annual Ministerial meetings to review the functioning and upgradation of CEPA.

Q.13. Please tell us recent trends and figures of Korean visitors to India (on yearly basis if possible.)

 Ans.  Close to 100,000 Indians and Koreans travel in either direction.  The numbers are growing steadily.

Q 14. It is regarded that Korea and India needs “tighter” exchange. Many Koreans visit India but mainly for tourism purpose. We should encourage more exchange of academics, scholars, artists and experts of every area. Opinion leaders of each country should exchange visits and this will lead to enhanced understanding of each other’s countries. Please tell us your view on this.

Ans.  India is regarded as a spiritual home by the large Buddhist population in Korea.  At present, over 2500 Korean children are studying in India.  Korean chaebols like Samsung, Hyundai, LG, Doosan, Posco, etc. are already household names in India.  Both Korea and India are ancient civilizations with a rich cultural heritage.  As such, there is tremendous untapped potential for a qualitative increase in travel and tourism between two countries, especially, given that some 14 million Indians and Koreans travel abroad every year.

Q 15. Country promotion is also important as the general people still have limited understanding toward each other’s country. Indian Embassy has been active in this area, opening Indian Cultural Centre in Seoul. We wonder if you have more of these type of country promotion initiatives.

 Ans.  The Indian Cultural Centre is serving as an attractive window into the rich Indian cultural heritage for friends of India in Korea.  We have highly qualified Indian Yoga and Classical dance instructors, who hold regular classes and workshops.  A series of other activities are undertaken including showing Indian feature films which are popular in Korea, seminars, painting and art exhibitions, language studies, cultural performances etc.  India also actively participates in tourism fairs in Korea.  2013 would be commemorated in a befitting manner to mark the 40th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between our two countries.  A calendar of events is in the process of being finalized.  We also welcome the setting up of the Korean Cultural Centre in New Delhi earlier this month.

Q 16. In your opinion, what kind of efforts should be made in addition to the existing initiatives, in order to promote bilateral ties between India and Korea?

 Ans.  We need a few big ticket items to impart greater prominence and visibility to our bilateral relations. These could include major investments, industrial parks, launch of Korean satellite on Indian space vehicles as well as, joint production and shooting of Bollywood movies in Korea.

Q 17. Please let us hear your plans to enhance bilateral relationship during your posting here in Korea, with any particular areas you want to focus on.

 Ans.  The SME sector is quite prominent both in India and Korea.  These companies have already accumulated enough experience, technology and capital to transcend the domestic shores.  There is a strong interest among Indian SMEs to collaborate with their Korean counterparts, which is one of the priority areas of cooperation identified by the Embassy of India. Similarly, both our countries accord the highest importance to education and are fortunate to have a number of educational centres of excellence.  Both countries can benefit from institutional tie ups and exchanging students, faculty, teaching material, etc. in areas like language studies (English and Korean), pure sciences, IT, engineering and management.

Q 18. Please let us know of areas that we can expect further cooperation between India and Korea.

 Ans.  When it comes to further expansion of bilateral cooperation, we are only limited by our imagination.  Consider the following. India and Korea are the 3rd and 4th largest economies in Asia respectively.  Indian economy would soon cross $ 2 trillion. With a middle-class of 250 million  and a retail market of over $ 500 billion, India is seen as exceptionally attractive by Korean companies.  We have tremendous synergies and complementary economies.  I am delighted that our exchanges and cooperation in a variety of sectors noted above in addition to energy, science & technology, civil aviation etc. is growing rapidly.