South Korea's Moon in India to boost ties, will hold talks with PM Modi

On Monday, the South Korean President and Modi will visit the Gandhi Smriti and a Samsung plant in Noida

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is on a four-day visit to India where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range of issues, including trade and defence cooperation.

On Monday, the South Korean President and Modi will visit the Gandhi Smriti. They will also visit a Samsung plant in Noida. A revised Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is expected to be signed between the two countries.

New Delhi expects that Moon’s first state visit to India will open new avenues for expanding the bilateral partnership, particularly in the economic domain.

Ties in focus

There has been an upswing in India's defence cooperation with South Korea and both sides are expected to explore ways to enhance it.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj are expected to call on the visiting leader on Monday. Moon will also attend the India-Korea business forum during the visit. 

During the visit, Moon will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind, who will host a banquet in his honour. Modi and Moon will also address an India-Republic of Korea CEOs round table. 

Moon will get a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on July 10. Modi will then hold official talks with the South Korean President at Hyderabad House, which will be followed by a lunch.

Modi visited South Korea in May 2015 during which the bilateral partnership was elevated to a special strategic partnership.

On the agenda

Moon’s tour from Sunday is focused on upgrading business ties to the level Korea has with China. To achieve this, Moon is pushing Korean majors to raise their investment. 

He will speak at the India-Korea Business Forum on Monday, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. In attendance would be the top management of the major ‘chaebols’ or large family-owned mega-conglomerates from Korea such as Samsung, Hyundai and LG. They command large chunks of the export and domestic consumer and industrial markets in Korea. 

The meet will be the second one of its kind in less than five months. In February, Modi had addressed a mega delegation of 150-odd Korean companies, flown to Delhi to attend the first India-Korea Business Summit. He asked the chaebols to further expand the $2.7-billion worth of investment they have in the country, mostly in the automobile and engineering sectors.

But India is also not likely to get the status of ‘native English-speaking nation’, though South Korea has accorded this to some other countries, including South Africa. A South Korean recognition of India as ‘Native English Speaking’ opens up an E2 visa for Indians.

India has asked for zero duty on items such as sesame and motor parts but the Koreans are unwilling. Largely grown in Gujarat, sesame export to Korea could bring political benefits there. South Korea imposes 630 per cent duty on Indian sesame while importing 24,000 tonnes a year from China at zero duty.

The Koreans had earlier agreed to 11 tariff lines being opened to them but were digging their heels on 17 during negotiations over the weekend. Opening of tariff lines to a country ensures zero basic customs duty to importers of the country to which it is opened. The duty is applicable for products under those tariff lines.