Pranab to visit Thailand, Korea to boost India's Look East policy

FE Team | Published: September 13, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

NEW DELHI, Sept 12 (PTI): In an effort to give further impetus to India's Look East policy, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will travel to Thailand and South Korea from today on a visit that will primarily focus on enhancing trade and investment.
During the six-day visit, Mukherjee will have bilateral discussions with his counterparts in both the countries and co-chair the joint commission meetings to further cooperation in diverse areas.
The discussions between Mukherjee and Thai Foreign Minister Nitya Pibulsonggram in Bangkok will focus on ways to enhance trade and investment and increase cooperation in energy, defence and security fields.
The two sides will also look for ways to increase civil aviation and other transportation linkages besides strengthening cooperation in agriculture, fisheries, tourism and science and technology.
He will deliver keynote address on 'Look East policy: Implications for Thailand and Asia' at the Institute of Security and International Studies, in which he is expected to spell out India's plans to forge closer ties with East Asian countries.
In Seoul, Mukherjee and his Korean counterpart Song Min-Soon will assess progress made in the talks on an updated double taxation avoidance agreement and a comprehensive economic partnership agreement, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters here.
The volume of trade between India and Korea is currently USD 7.1 billion which is targetted to be raised to USD 10 billion next year.
South Korea is the ninth largest foreign investor in India and the two countries have established a framework to facilitate further investment, Sarna said.
Korean steel major POSCO has announced an investment of USD 12 billion, the largest single foreign investment in India, for an integrated plant at Paradeep in Orissa with a 12 million tonne capacity.
The two sides will also discuss measures to simplify visa rules, particularly for business people travelling to the Korea.
Regional and multilateral issues are also expected to come up for discussions, Sarna said pointing out that the two countries are partners in the ARF, East-Asia Summit.