External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held a telephonic conversation with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and discussed the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between two nations.
Jaishankar stated that he looked forward to welcoming Park Jin to India for the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting scheduled to be held later this year. Bilateral consular relations between India and South Korea were established in 1962 and they were upgraded to Ambassador level in 1973, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
The foreign minister in a tweet stated, "Appreciate the call from FM Park Jin of Republic of Korea this morning. Discussed our bilateral relations and the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relationship. Look forward to welcome him to India for the G20 Foreign Ministers' meeting."
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar was on an official visit to South Korea from January 16-17. During his visit, he co-chaired the 5th Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue (FPSD) with his Korean counterpart Cho Hyundong.
The Embassy of India in South Korea stated that Kumar and his counterpart exchanged views to strengthen ties between the two countries. They also discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Indo-Pacific and G20.
During the Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue, both sides agreed to enhance India-South Korea Special Strategic Partnership by strengthening strategic communication through regular high-level engagements.
During the meeting, India and South Korea agreed to deepen cooperation in various sectors, including, trade and investment, security and defence, science and technology, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
"During the FPSD, both sides agreed to enhance India-ROK Special Strategic Partnership by strengthening strategic communication through regular high-level engagements including the Foreign Minister-level Joint Commission Meeting, '2+2' dialogue involving 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," Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Saurabh Kumar informed the Korean side about the opportunities India offers to Korean companies for investments in manufacturing, infrastructure and other sectors.
During the meeting, 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 and agreed to take concrete steps to realize the vision of taking it to USD 50 billion by 2030.
According to the external affairs ministry, the FPSD provided an opportunity to share perspective 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.
( With inputs from ANI )
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