India Korea Aim to Double Bilateral Trade by 2030, Will Work Together in Afghanistan

New Delhi: India and the Republic of Korea (ROK) inked 11 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on Tuesday with an aim to strengthen bilateral ties. The two countries also vowed to "to explore tripartite partnership for development in third countries, beginning with capacity building programmes in Afghanistan."

ROK's President Moon Jae-in is on a 5 day visit to India. The MoUs were inked earlier in the day in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Both leaders also inaugurated the Samsung factory in Greater Noida on Monday.

They also vowed to raise bilateral trade to US$ 50 billion by 2030, which is almost double of what it is now. The trade as of 2017 between the two countries was $20 billion.

India recognised Korea as an indispensable partner in India's Act East policy and both countries recognized "the value of this bilateral partnership and its contribution to peace, stability and security in the region. "

"Recognising the importance of regular high-level exchanges to consolidate progress in the bilateral partnership, we agreed to intensify leadership-level contact, including through biennial visit by the leaders of the two countries. We agreed to expand interaction by regularizing existing dialogue mechanisms as well as by exploring other areas of mutual interest and cooperation," the vision statement read.

The countries have also vowed to "expedite work to upgrade the monument of Queen Suriratna (Hur Hwang-ok) in Ayodhya as a joint project."

The vision statement further read that that the establishment of the Korea-India Future Strategy Group and the India-Korea Centre of Research and Innovation will only help in providing an institutional framnework for future-oriented cooperation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said India is a stakeholder in the peace process in the Korean peninsula and it will make all efforts to ensure peace in the region.

Modi made the remarks after holding extensive talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. After their talks, the two countries signed four documents with an aim to strengthen their strategic cooperation.