South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will visit India next week for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi (REUTERS)
Lee is the first South Korean president to travel to India in eight years, and he will be in the country during April 19–21 with First Lady Kim Hea Kyung and a delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and business leaders. This will also be his first visit to India.
Lee and Modi will hold discussions on strengthening cooperation in a spectrum of areas, including shipbuilding, trade, investments, AI, semiconductors, critical and emerging technologies and people-to-people ties, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday. They will also discuss regional and global issues.
Lee will also meet President Droupadi Murmu and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
South Korean National Security Adviser Wi Sung-rak told a media briefing in Seoul that Lee’s visit will bolster South Korea’s Global South diplomacy in view of India’s leading role among developing nations. The visit will also strengthen the special strategic partnership between South Korea and India and create new momentum for economic cooperation, he said.
The two sides will lay the groundwork for achieving $50 billion in bilateral trade by 2030 by accelerating negotiations to improve the Korea-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, he said.
The external affairs ministry said Lee’s visit underscores the shared aspiration of both countries to strengthen the existing areas of cooperation and expand collaboration to new and emerging areas.
