Antony to pay two-day visit to South Korea from Thursday

Union Defence Minister A K Antony will pay a two-day visit to Seoul from September 2 during which India and South Korea will hold talks on a wide range of issues, including defence cooperation for peace and stability in the Asia Pacific region.

An official press release said this would be the first ever visit of an Indian Defence Minister to South Korea and is being made at the invitation of Mr Antony's counterpart Kim Tae-young.

The release said the visit would give a major boost to defence cooperation between the two countries.

According to the release, the visit is part of India's Look East Policy and discussions between the two sides would include cooperation in research and development for manufacture of military equipment.

Mr Antony will be accompanied by a high-level delegation including the Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, Vice Admiral R K Dhowan, Lt General K T Parnaik, Dr. Prahlada and Mr Sundaram Krishna. The Indian delegation will also visit some of the defence establishments of South Korea.

The release said Mr Antony's visit had been planned as a follow-up of the declaration issued by both countries during the state visit of South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak to New Delhi in January, this year, when it was decided to elevate the bilateral relationship to a "strategic partnership".

The foundation for India - South Korea defence relations was laid in 2005, when the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in defence, industry and logistics. Yet another MoU for cooperation between the Coast Guards of the two countries was signed in March, 2006, the release added.

NNN