Eam Jaishankar meets South Korean special messengers, discusses defense, maritime and technical cooperation

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met a delegation of special messengers of the Republic of Korea (ROK), led by former Prime Minister Kim Boy-Kuum, and discussed methods to strengthen bilateral relations in major areas, including economy, technology, defense, maritime security and people’s exchange.

Jaishankar shared the details of the meeting on his official X account. He wrote, “This morning was happy to meet the delegation of special messengers of Rok, Li J Mayung for India under the leadership of former PM Kim Boy-Kum.

The meeting comes especially in Indo-Pacific amidst new efforts from both sides to promote cooperation in areas such as green hydrogen, shipbuilding, investment, semiconductor and regional security.

Earlier, Indian Ambassador to South Korea Amit Kumar also met Kim Boy-Kum before a visit to India. The South Korean delegation included the representative Li Kai and the Democratic Party of Geet Sun-Ho, a member of the Korea’s Supreme Council.

During the conversation, the two sides discussed the versatile special strategic partnership and detected opportunities to strengthen bilateral relations in areas such as peace, prosperity and regional connectivity.

The visit also follows a recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Lee J. Mayung in Canada last month. The two leaders expressed their commitment to work together in trade, investment, green energy and emerging technology sectors.

India and South Korea had earlier initiated initiatives like Korea Plus to promote Korean investment in India. In 2019, a Korea-India SME and start-up center were also established in Gurugram. As of June 2023, South Korea’s total foreign direct investment (FDI) in India was USD 8.02 billion. (AI)