Indian Ambassador to Korea Amit Kumar speaks during the World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025 briefing event held at the Embassy of India in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Embassy of India in Seoul

Indian Ambassador to Korea Amit Kumar emphasized the growing collaboration between Korea and India in the media and entertainment sector.

Kumar highlighted India's upcoming World Audio-Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) 2025, scheduled for May 1 to 4 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. He described the event as "a forum to convey and share our stories, promote better understanding of our respective countries — India in Korea and of Korea in India respectively — and foster deeper friendship among our people."

The ambassador prefaced his remarks with an overview of India-Korea relations, noting the 10th anniversary of their Special Strategic Partnership.

"There are much more regular bilateral consultations on political, strategic and defense matters, including at the high-political level," he said. "There are ministerial-level dialogues between the foreign, finance and S&T (science and technology) ministries, respectively."

Economic cooperation between the two nations has also seen significant growth. "The two-way investments are close to $15 billion, with $5 billion invested by Indian companies in Korea," Kumar said. "[There is] immense potential to deepen our engagement in multiple areas, including manufacturing, green energy, infrastructure and logistics."

Kumar said the WAVES 2025 summit will bring together stakeholders from the media and entertainment industry. "WAVES represents the coming together of cinema, the digital world, the content revolution, the IT industry and global capability centers in India," he said.

India's media and entertainment sector is undergoing significant transformation, driven by digital advertising, streaming platforms and online gaming. "The sector is poised to grow at a rate of 8.3 percent annually to reach around $45 billion by 2028," he said. India's AVGC-XR (Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comics and Extended Reality) sector is also emerging as a new growth driver.

Kumar recognized Korea's success in leveraging its media and entertainment sector for soft power projection. "The Republic of Korea boasts a very successful and vibrant audiovisual and entertainment sector. It has also successfully leveraged its strength for soft power projection, including through K-pop, K-drama and films," he said. "Korean cultural content is, not surprisingly, gaining popularity in India."

Encouraging Korean participation in WAVES 2025, Kumar noted that India offers "avenues for creative collaboration, leveraging skilled human resources, but equally for business expansion."