"We believe Korea will participate as an important partner in India's shipbuilding mission," Ambassador Lee Seong-ho said at a Seoul forum, adding that New Delhi has increasingly turned its attention from semiconductors to shipbuilding as it seeks to transform itself into a developed economy by 2047.
Speaking at a forum hosted by the Korea-India Future Association, chaired by former Ambassador Shin Bong-kil, Lee said India has been strategically identifying sectors critical to its industrial development.
"India has been strategically pursuing areas where it feels the greatest need, including its semiconductor mission and shipbuilding mission," he said. "The area it is now watching most closely is shipbuilding."
Despite its extensive coastline and growing trade, India still lacks the capacity to build large container ships domestically, prompting New Delhi to seek overseas partners with advanced shipbuilding technology.
"India believes Korea is the country most capable of helping with this, and it has been persistently reaching out to us," Lee said. "Fortunately, Korean companies are also looking at shipbuilding with interest."
He said a major shipbuilding project could become the "signature program" of Korea-India cooperation, paving the way for a second wave of Korean investment following the first generation led by Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor and Kia in the 1990s.
While the initial investment wave centered on consumer electronics and automobiles, Lee said future cooperation should focus on industries central to India's industrial upgrading, including shipbuilding, batteries and strategic manufacturing.
"If such a signature program is created, it could send a signal that Korea and India are becoming strategically closer," he said. "That could encourage many Korean small and medium-sized companies that have been watching India from the outside but still see it as a difficult market."
Under the maritime cooperation framework announced after the summit, India invited Korean shipbuilders to participate as technical and strategic partners in large-scale shipbuilding clusters. The two sides also discussed cooperation in shipyard development, maritime workforce training, port infrastructure and marine equipment supply chains.
India is expanding domestic shipbuilding under its Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047, an initiative aimed at elevating the country into the world's top tier of shipbuilding nations by the centenary of its independence. One of the flagship projects is a proposed greenfield mega shipyard in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, involving HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering.
Lee said economic and strategic investment represents the greatest opportunity for bilateral cooperation.
"For India, what it needs most from Korea is economic and strategic investment," he said. "If these investments become supply-chain links and Korea is recognized as an important partner in Make in India, Korea can rise to become a partner as important as Japan or the United States."
Lee argued that India should become South Korea's "fifth major strategic partner" alongside the United States, China, Japan and Russia, but said such a relationship would require deliberate policy rather than happen automatically.
"India is a country we must strategically approach and make into Korea's fifth major power," Lee said. "In the 20-year journey from 2026 to 2047, we believe this is virtually the last opportunity in which India still needs Korea."
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.