New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Seoul later this month to hold Joint Commission meeting with her Korean counterpart during which the two sides will discuss key bilateral issues, including trade and civil nuclear cooperation.
Swaraj and her Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se will hold the 8th Joint Commission meeting to comprehensively review the Strategic Partnership with a focus on boosting economic ties, officials said here.
Apart from the discussion on regional and international issues of mutual interest, the two leaders are expected to deliberate on ways to add content in key areas, including political, security, trade, investment, consular, scientific and cultural spheres.
So far, seven meetings of the Commission have been held, the last being in November 2013 here. With negotiations on a nuclear pact with Japan not making much headway, India may also like to take the opportunity to further the talks for implementation of the civil nuclear agreement with Korea, which was signed in 2011.
Significantly, a Korean delegation visited Mumbai last week to discuss possible cooperation in different areas of nuclear energy with the Department of Atomic Energy. “We've had a discussion on possible cooperation in different areas, more importantly on collaboration in the R&D sector,” said a senior DAE official.
However, there was no discussion on whether Korea would supply parts required for Indian nuclear reactors. “The Indian and Korean sides had a discussion, but the talks have still not reached the level of supplying any parts for Indian reactors,” the official said.
Although Korea has developed its own advanced nuclear technology, DAE officials said they are keen on collaborating with the east Asian nation in the field of medical research. “Koreans are far advanced in the field of nuclear physics, especially nuclear medicine,” the official added.
