India, South Korea agree to deepen cooperation in trade and investment, security and defence

India and South Korea have agreed to deepen cooperation in several areas including trade and investment as well as security and defence.

During the 5th Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue (FPSD) held in Seoul, South Korea on Monday, the two sides also agreed to enhance the India–Republic of Korea (ROK) Special Strategic Partnership by strengthening strategic communication through regular high-level engagements.

Providing information about the discussions, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said both sides agreed to deepen cooperation in areas including, trade and investment, security and defence, science and technology, as well as, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

The Indian delegation at the talks also informed the Korean side about the opportunities India offers to Korean companies for investments in manufacturing, infrastructure and other sectors.

The two sides agreed to work to make global supply chains more resilient and robust, the MEA added.

They noted that bilateral trade was at an all-time high of about USD 28 billion and agreed to take concrete steps to realize the vision of taking it to USD 50 billion by 2030. The two sides also discussed opportunities for cooperation in new and emerging technologies.

The high-level engagements discussed during the dialogue included the Foreign Minister-level Joint Commission Meeting, ‘2+2’ dialogue involving Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry at Vice Minister/Secretary level, other ministerial and senior official dialogues, the MEA said.

The two countries celebrate 50 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

Saurabh Kumar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, India, co-chaired the dialogue with his counterpart, First Vice Foreign Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea, Cho Hyundong.

According to the MEA, the FPSD "provided an opportunity to share perspective on regional and global issues including the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region". The two sides noted that South Korea's recently announced Indo-Pacific Strategy provides an opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation including expanding it to new areas.

During the meeting, they also discussed cooperation in multilateral fora. Secretary (East) briefed the ROK side about the priorities of India during its Presidency of G20. The latter appreciated India’s efforts and assured its full support in the success of the G20

The MEA's Secretary (East) also had separate meetings with Representative Kim Tae Ho, Chairman, Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee of ROK National Assembly; Shin Beomchul, Vice Minister for Defense; and Kim Kwan Yong, Executive Vice Chairman of Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.