India, May 1 -- When South Korean President Lee Jae-myung landed in New Delhi on April 19, he carried the weight of eight lost years. The last state visit by a South Korean leader was President Moon Jae-in (2018). This gap spanned a pandemic, the Ukraine crisis, the Iran war, global supply chain disruptions, and emerging geopolitical shifts in Asia. This makes the summit not a routine renewal of ties but a deliberate act of 'strategic recalibration' between India and South Korea.

This visit did not come in any geopolitical vacuum. Its immediate diplomatic genealogy traces to the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada (June 2025), where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Lee held their first bilateral meeting and agreed on cooperation in...