Symposium on India-South Korea partnership begins in Ahmedabad

An international symposium aimed at emphasising the importance of the bilateral relationship between India and South Korea commenced here on Thursday.

The symposium, titled 'Korea-India Partnership for Co-existence: Past, Present and Future', has been organised by the Academy of Korean Studies, a research institute under the Ministry of Education of South Korea in collaboration with Gujarat University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The event's opening ceremony was held on the campus of Gujarat University on Thursday evening. A two-day main session will be at the Hyatt Regency on November 29 and 30.The purpose of the symposium is to provide a platform to academics, scholars, policy-makers, business leaders and the media from both countries to deliberate on how one can draw from the rich historical and cultural connectivity, economic complementarities and convergences of strategic outlooks of India and South Korea, to reshape bilateral relations into a much more robust partnership.

Around 30 speakers are expected to take part in the three-day symposium.The idea of a symposium on these lines was conceived during the interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in during the latter's state visit to India in July last year.

At that time, both leaders recollected that in the 8th century, a Buddhist monk from Korea had journeyed around India, including Gujarat and wrote a travelogue. The two leaders agreed that these historical links needed to be re-emphasised through academic exchanges.

Shin Bongkil, Ambassador of South Korea to India said, "There are many lesser-known facts about Korea-India historical connections. The symposium will explore how we are connected with each other through the ties of kinship and spirituality, and also our long-standing tradition of friendship and cooperation in order to re-establish the lost emotional connection between the people of the two countries."

"We need to use the present to chart a new future on the foundation of our intertwined past," he added.