India and South Korea pledge to increase bilateral trade

India and South Korea on Tuesday pledged to further upgrade their special strategic partnership and increase their bilateral trade from the current $20 billion to over $50 billion by 2030.  
South Korean First Lady Kim Jung-sook greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi as she and President Moon Jae-in leave after ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday | Shekhar Yadav
South Korean First Lady Kim Jung-sook greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi as she and President Moon Jae-in leave after ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday | Shekhar Yadav

NEW DELHI:India and South Korea on Tuesday pledged to further upgrade their special strategic partnership and increase their bilateral trade from the current $20 billion to over $50 billion by 2030.  
Addressing a joint Press conference after restricted and then- delegation level talks with visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in at Hyderabad House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the two nations shared a familial relationship. “Centuries ago, Suri-Ratna, a princess from Ayodhya, was married to the king of Korea. And you will be surprised to know that even today millions of people in Korea consider themselves as their descendants,” he said.

Modi said Korea’s progress was an inspiration for India and expressed happiness that the Korean companies had not only invested in India but also created employment opportunities by joining Make in India mission.In his address, Moon said that the two countries agreed that “now is the best time to practically implement the South Korea-India special strategic partnership and to further upgrade the partnership to the next level”.

The two leaders also pointed out that India’s Act East Policy meshed well with the South Korea’s ‘new southern strategy,’ which have visible similarities at the policy level.Earlier, the two leaders oversaw the signing of four of the 11 agreements and MoUs that were signed in the areas of trade, railways, science and tech, biotech, SMEs, culture, future strategy (which includes cooperation in cutting edge technology like the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence)  people-to-people connect, plans for an Early Harvest Package to upgrade the economic relationship and negotiations to improve the free trade agreement, known as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

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