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India
This Week in AsiaPolitics

Can India forge a 3-way partnership with Japan, South Korea to ‘counter China’s actions’?

  • India’s deepening security ties with both nations highlights its growing ability to act as a go-between as Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific grows, analysts say
  • Such a grouping would likely act as a complementary force to the Quad bloc rather than against it, observers suggest

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Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar prepares to give a speech in Tokyo on March 8. Photo: AP
Vasudevan Sridharan
India’s bid to deepen its relations with Japan and South Korea has revived the prospect of a trilateral alliance and highlights New Delhi’s ability to serve as a go-between for the rival neighbours amid growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific, analysts said.
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Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar last week visited Seoul and Tokyo, meeting his counterparts and other top politicians, in a trip focused on strengthening security and economic ties with each nation.

In South Korea, Jaishankar said India was keen to expand cooperation in areas such as emerging technologies, green hydrogen and nuclear cooperation, and in Japan, both countries welcomed the expansion of joint military exercises.
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meet in Tokyo on March 8. Photo: AP
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meet in Tokyo on March 8. Photo: AP
While Japan and former colony South Korea’s “strategic outlooks converge”, historical tensions between the two meant India’s presence in the strategic conversation in East Asia was crucial given the rise of China and potential regional crises such as the Taiwan Strait, said analyst Harsh V Pant.

“There’s always been this hurdle in shaping a stable security architecture where Japan and South Korea [are] not able to work together because of historical sensitivities. India perhaps is one country that can visibly take this trilateral cooperation forward,” said Pant, the Vice-President of Studies and Foreign Policy at the Observer Research Foundation in Delhi.

During the 10th India-South Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) in Seoul last Wednesday, Jaishankar stressed the shared stakes of both countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

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Co-chairing the meeting with his counterpart Cho Tae-yul, Jaishankar highlighted India’s interest in expanding cooperation beyond trade, defence and investment with South Korea, where a shift in China policy under President Yoon Suk-yeol has created room for countries such as India to play a more prominent role in the region.

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