The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) and the Korean National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA) co-hosted the first "The First India-Korea 2+2 Dialogue" at the Korea Diplomacy Center in Seoul on October 27 (Wed). This policy dialogue was designed to establish a practical network between Korea-India think tanks, promote Korea-India cooperation, and diversify this network in the future, and was conducted under the theme of "Reimagining India-Korea Relations in the Emerging Regional Order: Synergising the 'Act East Policy' and the 'New Southern Policy.“

In the first session, opening speeches were delivered by President Heungchong Kim of KIEP, Chancellor Hyunik Hong of KNDA, Director General Vijay Thakur Singh of ICWA, and Director General Sachin Chaturvedi of RIS. Referring to the points of convergences between Korea's New Southern Policy and India's Act East Policy and the "Korea-India Special Strategic Partnership," President Heungchong Kim KIEP stressed the need for Korea-India relations to shift to broader relations such as academic exchanges and security. In response, South Korean Ambassador to India Jaebok Chang and Indian Ambassador to Republic of Korea Sripriya Ranganathan emphasized the importance of diversifying and deepening Korea-India relations.

The second session was held under the theme of “India-Korea Relations in a Changing Global and Regional Context: Strategic Perspectives.” Professor Wondeuk Cho of KNDA presented on "India-Korea Relations in a Changing Global and Regional Contexts: A Strategic Perspective," and Research Fellow Panda Jagannath of MP-IDSA on "A Future-Oriented Partnership? India and South Korea in a Post-Pandemic World," respectively. 

The third session was on “Re-contextualizing India-Korea Economic Partnership in the Post-COVID International Economic Order,” during which Professor S.K. Mohanty presented on "India-Korea Bilateral Economic Partnership Need for Course Correction," and Associate Research Fellow of Hyoungmin Han presented his views on "Recent trends in Global Value Chain in Asia and its Implications."

Under the theme of “Way Forward: India-Korea Bilateral Relations,” the fourth session was hosted by Former Indian Ambassador to ROK Skand Tayal, with Professor Chanwan Kim of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Professor Jitendra Uttam of Jawaharlal Nehru University presenting on various ways to deepen Korea-India relations.

- Title: The First India-Korea 2+2 Dialogue

- Date: October 27, 2021 (Wed) 14:30-17:50 via Zoom

- Host: Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), Korean National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA)

- Contact: Min Hee Kim, Researcher, India and South Asia Team (E-mail: kmh@kiep.go.kr)