The Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar, today met Admiral Choi, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Minister Chang of the Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA); National Security Advisor Kim Kwan-jin; before being received by Defence Minister Han Min-koo at a ceremonial reception at the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Korea in Seoul.
In all his meetings, the Defence Minister offered sincere condolences on the first anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014, in which over 300 lives were lost. Minister also paid tribute to the achievements of the Korean people in building a prosperous democracy, thereby realizing the prophetic words of Gurudev Tagore that Korea would be the “shining light of the East”.
During the meeting with Admiral Choi, the two sides discussed existing bilateral defence relations. Both sides recognized that the relationship was one in which there are no obstacles to realizing the significant potential for military to military ties. In the meeting with Minister Chang at DAPA, the two sides recognized that their shared perspectives on regional and international issues created a firm foundation for cooperation in defence production, research and development. Shri Parrikar emphasized that in recognition of the importance India attaches to Korea as a partner, he had chosen to make ROK the destination for his first visit under the “Make in India” campaign. Both sides agreed to enhance their efforts to develop mutually-beneficial partnerships in defence production.
At the meeting with NSA Kim, the two leaders discussed regional and global issues of peace and security. They also discussed ways of intensifying bilateral cooperation in security and defence and considered ways to enhance these ties in a manner more commensurate with close strategic partners.
Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar and Defence Minister Han focussed in particular on ways of expanding contact between the defence establishments on both sides, and ways of building deep partnerships between Indian and Korean defence industries. Later in the evening, Defence Minister Han hosted Shri Parrikar and his delegation to dinner.
Defence Minister will leave for India on April 18, after a final round of one-to-one meetings with Korean defence industries, and an informal meeting with the Indian IIT alumni association in Korea.