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India, S. Korea for free trade
By agencies
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Tuesday, 04 October 2005, 19:30 IST
NEW DELHI: India will negotiate a free trade and investment pact with South Korea similar to the agreement it recently signed with Singapore and Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.
Singh decided to propose the free trade and investment pact with South Korea after meeting Monday with his trade and economic advisers.
The proposal will include free trade in goods and services and preferential treatment for Indian investments in South Korea and vice versa, it was learnt.
In Seoul, an official at South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said officials from both countries are studying the feasibility and economic effects of such as agreement. The sides have held three meetings on the subject since January, said the official, who did not want to be named because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
Relations between India and South Korea have improved since the end of the Cold War, when New Delhi's close ties with the former Soviet Union also made it an ally of South Korea's archrival, communist North Korea.
Today, South Korea is the fifth-largest foreign investor in India.