NEW DELHI: South Korea would like to be a part of the Quad, said South Korean Ambassador to India Chang Jae-bok on Tuesday.
"Korea is already an important partner for all Quad countries. It is entirely on the Quad members to consider including us," said the Ambassador.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol made his first visit to India for the recently concluded G20 Summit and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines.
There are also plans to upgrade the existing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
"CEPA between India and Korea was signed in 2009 and became effective in 2010. Later, both nations realised that it should be upgraded. As a result, in 2016 negotiations began which were paused during the pandemic. As of now, 10 rounds of negotiations have been undertaken between the commerce ministries of the respective countries. The meeting between the two leaders is expected to give a push to these rounds of negotiations," the envoy said, adding that the two countries are strategic partners.
South Korea also hailed the New Delhi Leaders Declaration, saying that the inclusion of PM Modi's statement that 'this is not an era of war' in para 14 was thought to be most effective to arrive at a consensus.
"G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant worked a great deal towards arriving at a consensus on Ukraine. Besides, there had to be a compromise in order to lead to a consensus – which happened leading to the declaration," he added.
Meanwhile, there is also a defence partnership between the two nations and technology transfer from Korea to India.
South Korea has also extend a $4 billion loan under the Economic Development Fund by its ministry of economy for development of infrastructure in India. This is a low interest loan (less than 1 per cent interest) and some projects like the Mumbai-Nagpur intelligent traffic system have been installed under this.
South Korea is also keen to attend the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya for cultural reasons.
"According to legend, a Korean Prince got married to a princess from Ayutha (we interpret this as Ayodhya) and hence this town has great significance for us. We would hope to be a part of the celebrations that lead to the inauguration of this temple," the Ambassador added.