India, South Korea sign landmark defence deals

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India and South Korea on Friday signed two landmark defence arrangements that envisage joint military training and exercises besides co-development and production of defence products during the first ever visit by an Indian Defence Minster to Seoul. The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were finalised after several rounds of discussions between Defence Minister A K Antony and his South Korean counterpart Kim Tae-young in Seoul.
The first MoU that will be valid for five years relates to enhancing exchange of military experience by conducting joint training exercises and increasing visits by military personnel between the countries. “The MoU envisages mutual exchange of visits by military personnel and experts, including civilian staff associated with defence services, military education and training and conduct of military exercises, exchange of visits of ships and aircraft, as jointly decided between the two countries,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar, who is accompanying the minister, said.

The MoU will also cover humanitarian assistance and international peace keeping activities. This is a major step ahead for the countries as till now, defence exchanges were limited to a few visits ever year and the odd low level naval exercise.

The other MoU relates to identifying defence technology areas in which products can be jointly developed and produced by the two countries. “It also envisages co-development and co-production of defence products with Indian industry through DRDO. There will be joint IPR on all the products developed through this mechanism,” Kar said.

For a start, some areas that are of immediate interest have been identified and further discussions will be carried out on the same. These include marine systems in which South Korea is one of the world leaders and electronics and intelligent systems in which both countries are developing expertise.

Besides the two agreements, the countries have also decided on enhancing cooperation in the field of maritime security. Antony said during his interactions that regular exchanges relating to maritime security are of top priority to secure the energy supply routes that pass through the Indian Ocean.

“It is of particular importance for like-minded countries working in the Gulf of Aden to coordinate efforts and also exchange information on the happenings in the area. We look forward to continued and enhanced cooperation between the navies of India and South Korea in this regard,” Antony said.