South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will visit India next week for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi aimed at boosting cooperation in key areas such as trade, shipbuilding, semiconductors and emerging technologies.
Lee is the first South Korean president to travel to India in eight years, and will be in the country from April 19 to 21 with First Lady Kim Hye-kyung and a delegation that includes ministers, senior officials and business leaders. This will also be his first visit to India.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday that Li and Modi will hold discussions on enhancing cooperation in a range of areas, including shipbuilding, trade, investments, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, critical and emerging technologies and people-to-people relations. They will also discuss regional and global issues.
Lee will also meet President Draupadi Murmu and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.
Lee’s visit will strengthen South Korea’s global South diplomacy in light of the leadership role played by India among developing countries, South Korean National Security Advisor Lee Sung-rak said at a press conference in Seoul. He added that the visit will also strengthen the special strategic partnership between South Korea and India and create new momentum for economic cooperation.
He added that the two sides will lay the foundation for achieving bilateral trade worth $50 billion by 2030 by accelerating negotiations to improve the Korea-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Lee’s visit confirms the common aspiration of both countries to enhance existing areas of cooperation and expand cooperation to include new and emerging areas.
