South Korea and India held the first meeting of a new economic security dialogue in Seoul on Nov. 2, creating a government channel focused on supply-chain resilience, advanced technology and responses to changes in the global economic environment.
The meeting followed an April summit between South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the leaders agreed to launch the dialogue. South Korea was represented by Song Ki-ho, a deputy director of the National Security Office, while India was represented by Pavan Kapoor, its deputy national security adviser.
The officials discussed ways to sustain cooperation on stabilizing supply chains and expand collaboration in advanced industries. They also examined how to develop and implement partnerships in shipbuilding, shipping and energy resources, building on agreements adopted during the April summit.
The two sides agreed to strengthen work in aerospace, critical minerals and artificial intelligence, while the South Korean security office said it would continue cooperating with India to promote mutual growth and innovation amid global uncertainty. The April energy-security statement identified India as a key supplier of naphtha and other petroleum feedstocks to South Korea, and called for cooperation on resilient energy trade, LNG markets and the wider energy supply chain.
The maritime agenda includes possible cooperation on Indian shipyard construction, modernization, workforce development and technology partnerships. A separate framework said the countries had noted a nonbinding proposal involving South Korean shipbuilder HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, an Indian cluster developer and a financing body to develop a large shipyard in southern India. The framework also described cooperation on port development, training and maritime equipment.
The April summit produced 20 memorandums of understanding between Korean and Indian companies in steel, shipbuilding, energy and other sectors. The inaugural dialogue now gives those economic ties a dedicated strategic forum, although the confirmed outcome of the Seoul meeting was continued cooperation and exploration of partnerships rather than a newly announced project, financing package or implementation timetable.