It is only natural that the new Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, has extended an invitation to our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to the upcoming G7 summit in Alberta. No statesman having any sense of contemporary diplomacy can afford to ignore the highest political executive of India. Today, India is the world’s fifth-largest economy and most populous democracy.
Observers say Prime Minister Modi’s presence at the Alberta summit is sure to impart a new direction to the diplomatic thinking of the G-7 leaders. His visit to Alberta is also likely to help remove the strains that have erupted in relations between Ottawa and New Delhi since the administration of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the “potential” involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.
The observers’ guess during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Alberta is that he may be interacting deeply with the new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and US President Donald J. Trump. Prime Minister Modi may use the opportunity of meeting the three leaders to help Seoul and Tokyo get closer. Relations between South Korea and Japan have been strange. They have improved significantly over the past year. The Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA ) has been crucial to the development of South Korea. Today, the two nations are members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). However, the issue of the alleged Korean victims during Japanese colonial rule over the peninsular continues to bedevil their ties. This makes little sense. Way back in 1995, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama admitted that “Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly those of Asia.” The successive Japanese Prime Ministers since then have expressed similar sentiments. New Delhi could convince Seoul that it would be better to cease raising the issue of Japan’s colonial past and move forward.
New Delhi is well-positioned to do so. It has maintained excellent ties with Seoul ever since South Korea emerged as an independent state in the post-World War II landscape. During Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Seoul in 2015, the two sides elevated their ties to a ‘Special Strategic Partnership’. In 2018, during his visit to India, former South Korean President Moon Jae-in shared with Prime Minister Modi a common vision for peace and prosperity. Today, South Korea is an indispensable partner in India’s ‘Act East’ policy. Similarly, India is part of South Korea’s ‘New Southern Policy’. The two nations are working towards the goal of increasing their trade to $50 billion by 2030.
The two nations have strong bilateral dialogue mechanisms, including the Joint Commission Meeting led by Foreign Ministers, the Vice Ministerial 2+2 dialogue, and the dialogue between the National Security Councils.
The observers add that by bringing South Korea and Japan closer, India could create a coalition of democracies aimed at fostering “a free, open, and peaceful Indo-Pacific” and foiling the aggressive designs of any authoritarian forces, including China, in the region.
The observers stress that New Delhi must use its growing clout with Washington today to push for facilitating the potential South Korea-Japan Free Trade Agreement. Regrettably, the US has thus far not been inclined to initiate any such process. In the 1990s, Washington leaned heavily on Tokyo to prevent it from joining the East Asia Economic Group and an Asian Monetary Fund. The approach of Washington has changed little over the years.
