New Delhi: On his maiden official visit to India, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin met with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar on Friday and the duo held talks to take forward the special strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in areas of trade and defense.
Park is on a two-day visit to India on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of India- South Korea relations. The two ministers also discussed cooperation in areas of trade and investments, defense, science, technology, space, energy, emerging technologies, and cultural exchanges.
Welcoming his South Korean counterpart to India, Jaishankar said that he was glad to take forward the special strategic partnership. We have also expanded our relationship today to cover the economic development cooperation funds, we are doing projects under that. And we have recently had a very large delegation of Korean Buddhists who actually walked 1200 kilometers. I mean it was an amazing thing which they did for 45 days, Jaishankar said. On Jin's visit to the Hyundai plant in Chennai, Jaishankar said that Hyundai is a symbol of the relationships that both countries have.
Jin who emphasised on the growing relationship between the two countries said, “Korea and India share so much in common. We are the most exemplary democracies, vibrant economies, and cultural powers and we are both committed to contributing to a free, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region." Jin also said that Korea looks forward to build up a stronger connection with India.
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Jin said India and Korea have mutual interest and mutual possibilities of greater cooperation for the future. We are now living in a very challenging time. For example, the supply chain disruption, global technological competition, COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine, and climate crisis and all these common challenges cannot be solved by one country alone and we need cooperation among the countries that have core values like democracy, free markets, human rights, and rule of law, he said.
He said that many countries have expectations from the G20 forum so that we can move forward for a prosperous future. Korea would be very happy to work with India and to contribute to India successfully organising the G20 summit later in September.
