Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held extensive bilateral discussions with Republic of Korea (RoK) Minister of National Defence Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul, with both sides reviewing the full spectrum of defence cooperation and agreeing to deepen collaboration in areas including defence industry, joint production, maritime security, emerging technologies, military exchanges, logistics and regional security.
During the talks, the two ministers acknowledged the growing strategic convergence between India’s Act East Policy and South Korea’s regional vision, reaffirming their shared commitment to strengthening defence ties in support of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
As part of the high-level engagement, both countries signed several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in key areas of defence cooperation. The agreements covered collaboration in defence cyber security, institutional training between India’s National Defence College and Korea National Defence University, and cooperation in United Nations peacekeeping operations, broadening the scope of the bilateral defence partnership.
Rajnath Singh also met Republic of Korea’s Minister of Defense Acquisition Program Administration Lee Yong-chul, with both sides agreeing to explore opportunities for joint development, joint production and defence exports.
The leaders also discussed a roadmap for advancing the India-Korea Defence Innovation Accelerator Ecosystem (KIND-X), aimed at integrating and strengthening the innovation ecosystems of the two countries.
Singh also chaired the India-RoK Defence Industry Business Roundtable in Seoul, which brought together senior government officials and leading defence industry representatives from both countries to explore new opportunities in defence manufacturing, co-development, co-production and supply chain partnerships.
Addressing business leaders, the Defence Minister highlighted India’s rapidly growing defence industrial base and invited Korean defence firms to strengthen partnerships with Indian companies under the government’s push for indigenous manufacturing and global collaboration. He said Korean and Indian companies could play a key role in advancing India’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative through long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships.
“The success of India-Korea industrial cooperation in the commercial sector demonstrates the enormous potential of trusted long-term partnerships. The time has now come to extend this successful model into the defence sector, where technology, innovation, manufacturing capability and strategic trust are becoming increasingly interconnected,” Singh said.
He noted that South Korea’s technological strengths, combined with India’s manufacturing scale, talent pool and innovation ecosystem, could create a strong foundation for jointly developing advanced defence technologies and systems for the future.
Highlighting the changing nature of modern warfare, Singh said defence manufacturing was no longer limited to conventional military platforms, but increasingly depended on advanced electronics, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, cyber technologies, semiconductors, quantum technologies, advanced materials and space-based capabilities.
“The future of defence will increasingly depend upon the ability to innovate rapidly and integrate technologies across multiple domains. This is precisely where India and RoK possess enormous potential for collaboration,” he said.
The Defence Minister also underlined India’s innovation ecosystem, saying that start-ups, MSMEs, private industry, academic institutions, research bodies and public sector enterprises were increasingly contributing to advanced defence technologies such as unmanned systems, AI-enabled platforms, cyber security, advanced communications and defence software.
“The future of India-Korea defence cooperation lies in innovation-led collaboration,” Singh said.
During the business event, two agreements were signed between Larsen & Toubro and Hanwha, aimed at boosting defence technology cooperation, industrial collaboration and capacity building between the two countries.
Reiterating the government’s push for defence self-reliance, Singh said India had recorded defence production worth approximately ₹1.54 lakh crore and defence exports nearing ₹40,000 crore in the financial year 2025-26. He added that defence exports were expected to reach ₹50,000 crore within the next one to two years, while defence production was projected to rise to ₹1.75 lakh crore in the coming months.
