Regarding President Lee Jae-myung’s state visit to India, the Blue House said, “It will be an opportunity to announce the full-scale operation of Korea’s diplomacy in the Global South.”
President Lee will complete his visit to India on the 21st (local time) and embark on a trip to Vietnam. Regarding this state visit to India, which concluded the previous day with a state dinner hosted by Indian President Dirupadi Murmu, Director of the National Security Office Wi Sang-rak gave a written briefing and said, “It was an opportunity to create a new momentum for cooperation with India, which is growing rapidly with a population of 1.4 billion, and to expand the horizon of cooperation between the two countries into future-oriented and strategic areas.”
Regarding the summit meeting between President Lee and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Director Wi said, “The small group meeting for close dialogue between the two leaders was initially expected to last about 40 minutes, but it lasted over an hour and the conversation became so heated that both parties had to call attention to schedule delays according to protocol.” Regarding the meeting with President Murmu and the state dinner, he explained, “It took place well beyond the scheduled time and was accompanied by a warm and in-depth conversation between the two sides.” He added, “It was originally scheduled to end at 8:30 p.m., but it took nearly an hour longer, and the official schedule could only be completed at 9:40 p.m.”
Regarding the significance of this summit, Director Wi explained, “The two leaders assessed that although the relationship between the two countries has developed considerably over the past 10 years since the upgrade of the ‘special strategic partnership’ in 2015, the situation is still not sufficiently satisfactory compared to the potential for cooperation.” He added, “Through this meeting, we decided to develop the relationship between the two countries to a completely different level than before.” Director Wi said, “In particular, the two leaders deeply agreed that the Republic of Korea and India are the optimal partners for realizing their respective national development visions of ‘Great Leap Forward’ and ‘Advanced India 2047.’” He added, “In a situation where uncertainty is increasing due to the war in the Middle East, the two countries agreed to cooperate more closely to promote mutual growth and innovation and overcome difficult international economic conditions.”
At the summit, a deep consensus was formed between the two leaders, especially on democratic values. Director Wi said, “The two leaders agreed that it is important for the two countries to achieve development through cooperation in a wide range of fields based on the value of democracy.” He added, “Democracy promotes the full exercise of individual capabilities, and in that respect, they agreed that cooperation between the two countries, which are representative democracies in Asia, can create greater synergy than anyone else.”
At the small group meeting, Prime Minister Modi reportedly said that India’s Nobel Prize winner for literature, poet Tagore, said 100 years ago that Korea would become the ‘light of the East’, and that prediction has become a reality and led to a ‘revolution of light’. Prime Minister Modi also introduced an anecdote in which, when he was the Prime Minister of Gujarat, other politicians used the United States as a model for economic development, but he used Korea as a model to accelerate the development of Gujarat.
At the summit, when President Lee conveyed the difficulties of our companies and compatriots, Prime Minister Modi promised to have the opportunity to listen closely to the difficulties of our companies and seek solutions to the problems. At the same time, he urged more Korean companies to invest and advance into India.
Director Wi said, “It was impressive that throughout the visit to India, the two leaders showed a very deep personal intimacy, like friends meeting after a long time,” and added, “President Lee suggested that Prime Minister Modi visit Korea at an appropriate time in the future, and Prime Minister Modi responded.”
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