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The year 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and India. On the occasion of this golden jubilee, this study aims to first understand the major determinants for Korea-India relations since the Cold War. It will then highlight the way forward for further strengthening bilateral cooperation between Korea and India from a Korean perspective. The study found that the economic aspect was the main driving force for relations between Korea and India until recently. With the emergence of the Indo-Pacific era, political and security dimensions have also become important driving forces, especially due to the China factor. However, despite upgrading their strategic partnership as "special" in 2015, the two countries have not yet formulated an action plan on how to strengthen and specifically cooperate within it. There is a need to establish a blueprint for how Korea and India will develop their special strategic partnership in the Indo-Pacific era. In this situation, this study suggests four areas where Korea and India can promote and strengthen their relations in the coming years: minilateralism such as Korea, Australia, Indonesia, and India (KAII) in the Indo-Pacific area, para and city diplomacy, cooperation in the defense industry, and economic cooperation on major Chinese export items to India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past two decades, India and South Korea have sought to create a strategic convergence in their long-term cooperation. Defense cooperation, which has been discussed bilaterally, is a key area of their partnership, should it later be transformed to companionship. As some of their efforts have materialized, South Korea has become the fifth largest exporter of conventional arms to India. Markedly, Seoul and New Delhi are on the way to restyle their regional strategies towards each other to fit into their Indo-Pacific strategies. In the course, two sides have found valid points to explore stronger partnership than in the past. The stronger driver they have now is likely to sustain in the future as they already made some meaningful progress in the last decade. In this latest move, the two sides appear to be on the right trajectory; however, the future awaits a more productive joint effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]