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| President Moon Jae-in and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands to begin their summit at Cheong Wa Dae, Friday. / Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
President Moon Jae-in and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed Friday to tighten bilateral defense and economic ties.
By holding a summit at Cheong Wa Dae, President Moon pledged to make concerted efforts to build a future-oriented relationship with India, which he said will help the two countries' peoples live better lives.
"We are going to develop the friendly relations between Korea and India into a new level, and turn Asia into a community of peace and prosperity," President Moon said after the summit with Modi.
In particular, the leaders agreed to continue enhancing economic and defense ties.
Modi said he firmly believes Korea is a role model for India's economic development, saying that Korea is a valuable partner for India to push for an economic paradigm shift.
Leaders of the two countries also set a common goal of expanding their trade volume to reach $50 billion (56.23 trillion won) by 2030.
Aside from the economic ties, they also reached an agreement to enhance partnerships in the defense industry.
Modi took the K9 Thunder howitzer as an example of the ongoing defense ties between the two countries. K9, developed by Korean company Hanwha, is used by India's armed forces.
Both countries reached a consensus in strengthening defense industry ties in defense technologies and co-production of defense products, according to Modi. He said the defense industry is one of the most crucial areas for partnerships between the two countries, welcoming more Korean companies to tap into the Indian market for defense exports.
The two countries also agreed to partner with each other in areas such as development of infrastructure and harbor as well as food processing and startup creation.
President Moon also underlined the need to continue his New Southern Policy under close partnership with India. The policy drive is aimed at expanding peace and prosperity beyond the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia.
