Jeju, South Korea, June 25: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday called for India and South Korea to deepen cooperation in key sectors, including shipbuilding, health, infrastructure, digital technology and defence, saying the two countries have complementary strengths that remain underutilised.
Addressing the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2026 in South Korea, Jaishankar stressed the need for stronger economic, technological, political and strategic ties, along with closer people-to-people engagement between New Delhi and Seoul. He is in South Korea on a two-day visit, the second leg of his ongoing foreign tour after visiting Mongolia.
Partnership Beyond Diplomacy
“India and the Republic of Korea must cooperate more closely,” Jaishankar said, adding that both countries have complementarities in sectors such as shipbuilding, digital technology, health, infrastructure and defence that are “just waiting to be exploited.”
He also argued that influential countries must build new understandings and forge closer relationships to stabilise the global order, saying many global challenges can only be addressed through issue-based cooperation among a wider group of nations.
Global South Deserves Bigger Voice
Highlighting the concerns of developing countries, Jaishankar said the Global South should be given greater capacity and more opportunities, as this would create new engines of global growth. Without naming any country, he also said the interests of “a few” nations are being openly prioritised while the costs borne by many are receiving less attention.
“As the interests of a few are openly prioritised, the costs to the many are less considered. This can only be countered by cooperation on more issues with greater players. At the end of the day, we will see whether multi-polarity really delivers,” he said.
Calling for stronger international cooperation, Jaishankar said challenges such as pandemics like Covid-19, terrorism and the impact of extreme climate events cannot be contained within political boundaries and require collective global action.
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Bilateral Talks Continue
On the sidelines of the Jeju Forum, Jaishankar met former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former Mongolian Prime Minister Gombojav Zandanshatar.
Earlier on Wednesday, he held talks with his South Korean counterpart, Cho Hyun, with discussions focusing on bilateral cooperation and the rapidly changing global situation.
The two sides also reviewed follow-up measures in the areas of trade, investment and finance that were agreed during South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s state visit to India in April.
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