South Korea, India agree to boost trade ties amid global tensions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts South Korean President Lee Jae Myung this week as both countries target $50 billion in trade by 2030.

President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday that South Korea and India will continue to cooperate to ensure the stable supply of energy resources and key raw materials as the two countries seek closer ties amid geopolitical uncertainties.

Lee, who arrived in India on Sunday for a three-day state visit, was speaking in New Delhi after talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi emphasized economic and strategic objectives during his summit with Lee, saying that both countries will double bilateral trade to $50 billion (almost €42.5 billion) by 2030.

New Delhi, Seoul discuss trade, shipbuilding, AI
On the trade front, South Korea exported $19.2 billion worth of goods and services to India last year and imported just $6.4 billion, leaving it with a trade surplus of $12.8 billion, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association.

Lee, who marked his first state visit to India since assuming office last year and the first by any South Korean leader in eight years, is also scheduled to attend business events with corporate leaders during the trip.

Lee keen to enhance economic cooperation with India
"The level of economic cooperation between South Korea and India is still very low," Lee said on Sunday at a dinner meeting with members ​of the Korean community in New Delhi.

"Going forward, we will expand that space and make the relationship between South ​Korea and India completely different from what it is now."
'Increasingly important strategic partners'
On Sunday, Lee said supply chain instability and global economic strains, particularly caused by the fallout of the Iran war, made the two countries increasingly important strategic partners.

Recently, amid the chaos of the Middle East crisis and stifling of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz , South Korea turned to India seeking greater naphtha supplies.

India supplied about 8% of South Korea's naphtha imports last year.

After India, Lee will be traveling to Vietnam.

Indians fall back on polluting fuels amid gas crunch
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video