S. Korea, India forge special strategic partnership

SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and India agreed Monday to launch negotiations to improve their free trade agreement by next year as their leaders upgraded the bilateral relations to a special strategic partnership. South Korea and India implemented their free trade deal in 2010. It's known as a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) and covers services and investment as well as competition and other issues. President Park Geun-hye and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed "commencement of negotiations to amend the India-Korea CEPA by June 2016 with a view to achieving qualitative and quantitative increase of trade," according to a joint statement issued after their summit in Seoul. Last year, two-way trade amounted to US$18.1 billion. The move is designed to allow South Korean goods to compete in India, the massive market of 1.2 billion people, on a more equal footing with their Japanese competitors. A CEPA between Japan and India went into effect in 2011. Modi is in Seoul for a two-day state visit on the last leg of his East Asian tour that has taken him to China and Mongolia. The summit is the first since they met at a regional summit in Myanmar last November. South Korea and India also agreed to hold annual summit talks and a vice ministerial level defense and foreign affairs dialogue as part of their efforts to boost their ties. Modi also invited South Korea to become a privileged partner in his "Make in India" policy aimed at building up the country's manufacturing sector. Park conveyed her appreciation to Modi's invitation. Modi views South Korea an important partner in his economic development drive, citing India's interest in South Korea's shipbuilding, electronics and machinery industries, among others, according to South Korean officials. South Korea also expressed its intention to provide US$10 billion for mutual cooperation in building infrastructure in the world's second-most populous nation, including railways, power generation and transmission. The two leaders also welcomed an agreement to cooperate in the areas of lunar exploration, satellite navigation and space science. South Korea's space program includes space exploration projects. South Korea plans to land a spacecraft on the moon in 2020, followed by a deep space exploration program to Mars and small asteroids. entropy@yna.co.kr (END)