Korea, India look to ‘upgrade’ bilateral trade pact, set to hold culture festival: Ambassador

Indian Ambassador to Korea Gourangalal Das said Monday that talks to update the two countries' 15-year-old trade pact have “built momentum" since April, when Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to nearly double bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030.

The envoy, however, stopped short of saying when a deal might be reached.

The update came as the Embassy of India briefed reporters on plans for the 12th edition of its annual dance and film festival "Sarang — The Festival of India in Korea" alongside a string of follow-up steps taken since Lee's state visit to India in April. 

Lee traveled to New Delhi for a state visit from April 19 to 21 and met Modi again two months later on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Évian, France. At the April summit, the two leaders signed 15 memorandums of understanding and set the $50 billion trade target — up by nearly 80 percent from around $28 billion currently — alongside a push to accelerate the renegotiation of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the trade pact underpinning the relationship since 2010.

On the state of the negotiations, Das said two rounds of talks have taken place since Lee's visit — in May and August — the first such talks in roughly two years.

"There is more interest in India in concluding beneficial [agreements] which can address the need for more robust supply chains," he said, adding that both sides now have "a better understanding of each other's priorities."

Das told the Korea JoongAng Daily that the negotiations “will be an upgrade” to the 2010 pact rather than a full overhaul, with new negotiations added on top, citing digital trade as one area under discussion.

Das cited a range of steps taken since the April summit, which he said identified shipbuilding, shipping and maritime logistics as one of five priority cooperation areas.

He said company-level talks in that sector have been active, with plans to train Indian shipbuilders in India and a Korean maritime equipment industry association preparing to open its first regional office there. 

Asked what he saw as the relationship's biggest untapped opportunity, Das pointed to education and mobility rather than trade or diplomacy.

"I would say that the people-to-people relationship can be much stronger than it is currently," he said, noting that only a few thousand Indian students currently study in Korea against the more than a million who go abroad each year.

He said Korea's close links between universities and industry made it well suited for Indian students pursuing manufacturing-related fields, and separately called for better long-term living conditions for Indian skilled workers and professionals already in Korea.

This year's Sarang festival opens in Seoul on Sept. 15 with a performance by an Odissi dance troupe from the eastern Indian state of Odisha, a classical form Das described as rooted in temple tradition. The festival then travels to Busan, Gimhae, Miryang, Gwangju and Nami Island before returning to Seoul, running through Sept. 22.

An accompanying Indian Film Festival follows in November, screening six Korean-subtitled films under a theme Das summarized as ordinary people overcoming hardship.

Asked what distinguishes this year's festival after 11 years of the event, Das called it "a gradual evolution" rather than a dramatic change, pointing to this year's push for a more unified theme across the dance and film programs and to a new India Day event.

BY SEO JI-EUN   [[email protected]]