India, South Korea target doubling trade by 2030

NEW DELHI, Apr 20: India and South Korea aim to double bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030, the leaders of both countries said on Monday following talks in New Delhi.

South Korea's President Lee Jae-myung, on his first visit to India, was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the presidential palace, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi standing alongside him as honour guards marched past. In a speech following the talks, Lee said the two countries had agreed to speed up negotiations to upgrade their 2010 comprehensive economic partnership agreement.

"We agreed to upgrade our economic cooperation framework to create new drivers for mutual growth," the South Korean president said. "We aim to increase the current $25 billion level of annual trade volume to around $50 billion by 2030."

Modi said that "we have taken several important decisions today" to double bilateral trade. Both sides said the discussions focused on shipbuilding, artificial intelligence, finance and defence cooperation, as they seek to broaden a strategic partnership underpinned by trade and technology.    �"AFP