Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar paid an official visit to South Korea and co-chaired the 5th Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue (FPSD) with his Korean counterpart Cho Hyundong.

Taking to Twitter, the Embassy of India in South Korea said, “Secretary East @AmbSaurabhKumar met Rep Kim Tae-ho, Chairperson, Foreign Affairs & Unification Committee of RoK National Assembly @news_NA, and exchanged views to strengthen -ties. They also discussed regional & global issues of mutual interest, including #IndoPacific & #G20.”

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In the dialogue, on Monday, both sides agreed to enhance the special strategic partnership by strengthening strategic communication through regular high-level engagements including the Foreign Minister-level Joint Commission Meeting, ‘2+2’ dialogue involving the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry at Vice Minister/Secretary level, other ministerial and senior official dialogues, as the two countries celebrate 50 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year, according to the official statement released by Ministry of External Affairs.

According to the statement, both sides had also agreed to deepen cooperation in areas including, trade and investment, security and defence, science and technology, as well as, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
Secretary (East), who is on a two-day visit to South Korea, informed his counterpart about the opportunities India offers to Korean companies for investments in manufacturing, infrastructure and other sectors.

“The two sides agreed to work to make global supply chains more resilient and robust. They also noted that bilateral trade was at an all-time high of USD 28 billion approx., and agreed to take concrete steps to realize the vision of taking it to USD 50 billion by 2030. Both sides also discussed opportunities for cooperation in new and emerging technologies,” the statement reads.

“FPSD provided an opportunity to share perspectives on regional and global issues including the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region. The two sides noted that ROK’s recently announced Indo-Pacific Strategy provides an opportunity to deepen bilateral cooperation including expanding it to new areas,” the statement added.

During the dialogue, both sides also discussed cooperation in multilateral fora. Saurabh Kumar also briefed about the priorities of India during its Presidency of G20. The latter appreciated India’s efforts and assured its full support for the success of the G20.

Secretary (East) also had separate meetings with Shin Beomchul, Vice Minister for Defense; and Mr Kim Kwan Yong, Executive Vice Chairman of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.

Taking to Twitter, Indian Embassy in Korea said, “Secretary East @AmbSaurabhKumar met Vice Minister of Defence, Shin Beomchul @ROK_MND. They agreed to advance India-RoK security and defence relations, including through defence exchanges and industry collaboration.”
“Secretary East also met Kim Kwan-Yong, Executive Vice-Chairperson of RoK’s Peaceful Unification Advisory Council.
Secretary was apprised of developments on the Korean peninsula & RoK’s approach. They also discussed India-Korea economic cooperation, and cultural & P2P exchanges,” it added.