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Informist, Monday, Apr. 20, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – India will upgrade its trade agreement with South Korea within a year, seeking to boost bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday.

 

Addressing a joint press briefing with visiting South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Modi said the two countries have taken "important decisions" to boost bilateral trade. "In order to ease financial flows, we have decided to form India Korea Financial Forum. To hike business cooperation, we have formed an industrial cooperation committee," Modi said.

 

"From chips to ships, from talent to technology, from environment to energy, we will realise new avenues of cooperation," Modi said, adding that the two countries were starting an economic security dialogue to enhance cooperation in critical technology and supply chains.  

 

The prime minister said India would set up a Korean industrial township in order to ease the entry of Korean companies, especially small and medium enterprises, into India. He said India is seeking to deepen cooperation with South Korea in the fields of artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and information technology. The two countries also signed memoranda of understanding in shipbuilding, ports, steel, and sustainability.  

 

"We are glad that South Korea is joining the International Solar Alliance and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative," Modi said. The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative is an India-led, voluntary, non-treaty-based framework launched in 2019 to promote a free, open, and sustainable maritime domain.

 

Underlining India's millennia-old "shared heritage" with South Korea, the prime minister said the two countries would strengthen their cultural relations through films, animation, music and drama. "I am glad to note that President Lee Jae Myung is himself an admirer of Indian cinema. We will host a Korea-India friendship festival in 2028 to strengthen our cultural connect," Modi said.  End

 

US$1 = INR 93.13

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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