Indian Army Chief’s visit to South Korea, Beginning of New Era of India-Korea armed forces partnership: Indian Govt

Sanjeev K Ahuja On Dec 28, 2020

Chief of Indian Army General MM Naravane in South Korea on Monday.

SEOUL: The Indian Government has said the ongoing visit of Indian Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane to the Republic of Korea (ROK) is the beginning of a new era of India-Korea armed forces partnership.

The 3-day visit of General Naravane that took off from Monday is the first-ever visit of any Indian Army chief to South Korea.

“A new era of India-ROK armed forces partnership! During the first-ever visit of an Indian Army Chief to ROK, Gen Naravane had useful discussions with Minister of National Defence Gen Suh Wook, Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff Gen Won In-choul and DAPA (defence acquisition planning administration) Minister Kang Eun-ho today,” said a social media post by the India Embassy in Seoul on Monday.

The visit (December 28-30) of the Indian army chief to ROK is aimed at bolstering military cooperation with the East Asian country. Both sides discussed avenues for enhancing India-South Korea’s defence ties.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Korea is the fifth country the Indian Army chief is visiting after Myanmar, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

Indian Chief of Army Staff General Naravane began his official visit to the Republic of Korea by paying tribute to Korean War veterans at the National Cemetery. He also visited the War Memorial in Seoul. Ms. Sripriya Ranganathan, Ambassador, Indian Embassy in Seoul accompanied the Defence Minister.

“We remember the humanitarian assistance by 60 PARA FIELD AMBULANCE and the contributions of Custodian Force of India during the Korean War,” said another social media post by the Indian embassy in Seoul.

The Army chief is also scheduled to visit the Korea Combat Training Centre in Inje County in Gangwon and the Agency for Defence Development (ADD) at Daejeon during his 3-day visit.

In February this year, just before the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, the Minister of National Defence of South Korea Jeong Kyeong-doo was on India’s visit to attend DefExpo-2020, when he had met the Korean War Veterans and their families to pay his gratitude for India’s contribution and support in Korean War.

Prior to this in September 2019, Defense Minister of Republic of Korea, Jeong Kyeong-Doo had held extensive deliberations with the Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi.