Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Minister of Defence of Republic of Korea (RoK) Mr Suh Wook successfully concluded their bilateral talks on defence cooperation in New Delhi on March 26, 2021. The defence and security engagements between India and RoK have grown exponentially over the last few years. Latest talks explored new domains of bilateral defence cooperation and avenues to strengthen the long-standing bilateral defence partnership. 

Shri Rajnath Singh and Mr Suh Wook acknowledged that the bilateral defence cooperation has broadened significantly in scale and scope across Tri-Service as well as agencies dealing with defence technology and industry. Both the countries have also found common ground on several multilateral fora and engagements.

Both the Ministers exchanged views on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the defence and security engagements as well as best practices followed by the Armed Forces of both nations. Shri Rajnath Singh lauded stellar contribution of RoK in the pandemic mitigation efforts.

They reaffirmed their support to multilateral initiatives to promote lasting peace and stability in the region and beyond. As brought out by the Raksha Mantri during his interaction with his counterpart, the bilateral relations between both the countries are set to grow further and the meeting between them will give it the necessary impetus to take it to the next level.

The Ministers also expressed satisfaction over the commitment exhibited by diverse agencies of both countries to sustain structured annual dialogues at various levels of leadership through virtual means when travel and physical engagements became increasingly challenging during the ongoing pandemic. This has kept up the momentum of bilateral defence engagements. The Armed Forces of both countries hope to approach 2021 with renewed confidence.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria, Chief of Army Staff General M M Naravane, Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Raj Kumar and Secretary Department of Defence R&D and Chairman Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr G Satheesh Reddy formed part of the Indian delegation during the talks.

Earlier, Shri Rajnath Singh and Mr Suh Wook jointly inaugurated the India-Korea Friendship Park in a ceremony to mark the occasion at Delhi Cantonment. The park is a symbol of close relations between both the countries and acknowledges the contribution of the Indian Army’s Medical Mission during the Korean War. The presence of distinguished guests from the Korean War Veterans Association during the inauguration ceremony was an acknowledgement of the event. Both the Ministers planted a sapling each to mark the momentous occasion. Mr Suh Wook felicitated Korean War Veterans Association of India General Secretary Shri Anil Malhotra on the occasion.

Nampi/KA/DK/ADA