South Korea Seeks Closer India Ties, Targets Shipbuilding Cooperation

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung used his trip to New Delhi to push for a sharper economic partnership with India, putting shipbuilding and broader industrial cooperation at the center of talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The visit marked the first South Korean presidential state visit to India in eight years, underscoring how both governments are treating the relationship as more than ceremony and more than diplomacy.

The economics already run deep, but the numbers also show how much room remains. India and South Korea established diplomatic relations on 10 December 1973, raised ties to a Strategic Partnership in 2010, and then to a Special Strategic Partnership in 2015. Their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was signed in Seoul on 7 August 2009 and took effect on 1 January 2010. Even with that framework in place, bilateral trade reached US$26.89 billion in FY25, while South Korea remained India’s 13th-largest foreign direct investor from April 2000 to March 2025, with US$6.69 billion in cumulative inflows.

Lee told members of the Korean community in New Delhi that economic cooperation between the two countries was still very low, a blunt signal that Seoul sees India as a strategic partner with major upside rather than simply another export destination. That view reflects the changing economics of Asia. Governments across the region are trying to harden supply chains, reduce dependence on any single market and expand industrial capacity at home. For South Korea, India offers scale, a growing manufacturing base and a market large enough to absorb higher-value industrial cooperation. For India, South Korean capital and technology can help deepen its shipbuilding, maritime and advanced manufacturing ambitions.

Shipbuilding is especially important because it sits at the intersection of industrial policy, logistics and security. South Korea remains one of the world’s leading shipbuilding powers, while India is trying to expand maritime capabilities as trade and defense requirements grow. Officials on both sides have also been discussing artificial intelligence, defense, finance and maritime industries, broadening the agenda beyond traditional trade. Reuters-linked reporting said the two countries are targeting bilateral trade of $50 billion by 2030, a goal that would require a meaningful step-up in investment, technology transfer and industrial coordination.

The visit built on a year of tighter contact. Modi and Lee held a bilateral meeting on the margins of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, in June 2025, where Modi described the encounter as “very warm and productive.” In February 2026, India’s foreign ministry said both sides had agreed to advance the Special Strategic Partnership through regular high-level engagements during 2026. February trade data showed how lopsided the relationship still was, with India exporting $498 million to South Korea and importing $1.74 billion, leaving a monthly deficit of $1.24 billion. If the talks in New Delhi convert political goodwill into shipbuilding deals and industrial investment, the relationship could become a more durable pillar of Asia’s shifting economic map.