Jaishankar's Bigger Question: Who Gets To Industrialise In Today's World

Speaking at the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity in South Korea on Thursday, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar accused the international community of applying its rules selectively on terrorism and climate, before turning to what he called the systematic denial of developing nations' right to industrialise.

He said, "On countering terrorism, it has given rise to double standards. As for climate change, there are empty promises with some even in denial."

He then made his most structural charge. "The right to industrialise, indeed the capacity to do so, is being denied to many developing states by the manipulation of competitiveness and restricting market access," he said. "This is but another facet of exercising dominance and retaining control."

Unpacking the Argument

Jaishankar argued that the selective application of norms on terrorism and climate is part of the same pattern as the economic tools being deployed to deny developing nations industrial parity. "Some entrenched powers also find it hard to come to terms with loss of competitiveness," he said. "International economy then becomes a zero-sum game."

On multipolarity, the alternative order developing nations are increasingly pushing for, he offered a rare note of public caution. "At the end of the day, we will see whether multi-polarity really delivers."

Notbaly, New Delhi has consistently argued that the global counterterrorism framework is applied on the basis of geopolitical convenience rather than principle. On climate, India has repeatedly resisted transition frameworks that impose disproportionate burdens on economies whose historical contribution to global emissions is a fraction of those setting the terms.

Why South Korea, Why Now

What sharpens Thursday's remarks is their setting. Jaishankar was speaking in South Korea a day after bilateral meetings in Seoul, a visit that followed South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to New Delhi in April 2026, the first in eight years.

The two governments have committed to scaling bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030. The trade data behind that ambition illustrates precisely the structural imbalance Jaishankar was describing on the forum stage.

"We have complementarities in fields like ship-building, digital, health, infrastructure or defence just waiting to be exploited," he said, referencing his bilateral discussions the previous day.

The Trade Picture

According to an analysis by Rubix Data Sciences citing Directorate General of Foreign Trade data, total goods bilateral trade between India and South Korea has been range-bound between US$ 25 billion and US$ 28 billion from FY22 to FY25, reaching US$ 26.9 billion in FY25.

Reaching the US$ 50 billion target by 2030 requires nearly doubling a relationship that has grown at a compounded annual rate of just 3% since 2018, per CNBC.

India's position within that relationship has structurally weakened. Goods exports to South Korea declined from US$ 8.1 billion in FY22 to US$ 5.8 billion in FY25, an 11% compound annual decline, whilst the trade deficit widened more than 1.6 times, from US$ 9.4 billion to US$ 15.3 billion over the same period, according to Rubix Data Sciences.

The product-level data sharpens the imbalance further. India's imports from South Korea are shifting towards higher-value goods: electrical integrated circuits grew from 7% to 15% of India's import basket between FY22 and FY26, showing rising dependence on Korean semiconductor components.

India's exports remain concentrated in commodities. Petroleum products, despite declining from 27% to 13% of export share, remain the single largest category. Turbojet exports are a notable exception, rising to 12% over the same period.

South Korea ranks 13th as a source of FDI into India, with cumulative inflows of US$ 6.69 billion between April 2000 and March 2025, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation, well below the commercial footprint of Korean firms already operating in India, including Samsung, LG Electronics, Hyundai, and POSCO.

Meanwhile, Jaishankar closed with a five-point prescription: diversifying supply chains to limit economic coercion; forging closer ties among influential nations; protecting international law and multilateral institutions; expanding capacity for the Global South; and reforming multilateral governance.

"We cannot rely on a few to uphold rules and norms," he said. "This, amongst others, must be expressed in reformed multilateralism."