Lakhvinder Singh & Ji Woo Chung

Sunjoy Joshi is Chairman of the Observer Foundation (ORF), New Delhi and its Chief Executive. As a former member of the Indian Administrative Service he has had a long experience in development and economic policies of the government of India.
Recently he visited Korea to attend an international conference organised by the National Diplomatic Academy of Korea.
Here are the excerpts of the interview he had with Biz Tech Report while in Seoul.

1. Question: Welcome to Korea. What brings you to Korea this time?
Answer: We came here to attend an international conference hosted by the Korean National Diplomatic Academy on July 3, 2018. Conference was focused on President Moon Jae-in's new southern policy and his new initiatives on ASEAN countries and India.

2. Question: How do you see the international conference hosted by the National Diplomatic Academy on July 3, 2018 regarding the Korean government's new southern policy on ASEAN countries and India?

Answer: All participants readily recognized the rise of ASEAN countries and India, and noted that the fluid situation of global politics made it all the more necessary to work together because of the changing security architectures of the world. We are living in the world which is very uncertain today. The North Atlantic Alliance had been the most prominent features of international politics following the end of World War II. Many would admit today that the Atlantic Consensus has broken down. While that does seem to be the case I do not think Trump is the reason for the breaking down of the Atlantic Consensus. Trump may be a symptom but he is far from being the cause. In my opinion the Atlantic Consensus had frayed well before Trump. It was frayed by two seminal events of the 21st century.
The First event was 9/11 and the consequential War on Terror launched by the coalition of the willing without any multilateral sanction. With the War on Terror in the aftermath of 9/11 multilateralism was laid to rest in the debris of the twin towers. The second event was the financial crisis of 2008 following which the Holy Grail of globalization and free trade and globalization began to be questioned in the very Atlantic capitals that had promoted these ideals in the first place.
The breakdown of the Atlantic consensus necessitates that Asian countries be prepared to take their destiny into their own hands and start conversations about their common concerns and goals. The most important factor for emerging countries is going to be to ensure economic development that leads to inclusive growth in the face of disruptive technologies that have accelerated the pace of transformation stupendously.

3. Question: What was your main message in the conference?A

Everyone is talking about Indo-Pacific. However, Indo-Pacific means different things to different countries around the world and must be seen in a context that is larger than the immediate tactical concerns of the main protagonists. The Atlantic perspective always segregated the South Asian and South East Asian parts of the world treating them as if they were two different universes. This, in spite of their centuries old linkages of culture and trade. Following their lead, strategic discourse tended to do the same. Not just governments and strategic commands, but even universities, academics, and think tanks tend to have separate South Asian and South East specialists. 

The Indo-Pacific does not end at the Bay of Bengal. It must be understood first in the context of its heterogeneous diversity and as a much larger construct. It must be seen as the bridge between the Pacific and the Atlantic that serves to integrate the land mass of Afro-Eurasia into one, and not three continents.
A rising Asia is correcting that anomaly in strategic thinking. Countries within the region and without have moved to this wider notion of the Indo-Pacific. Countries like Japan and Korea also are now thinking in terms of strategic role with like-minded nations in a much wider arena so as to enforce a rules based multi-lateral order.