India and South Korea Set to Hold First Ever 2+2 Dialogue Post-Elections To Boost Bilateral Ties

Giving a further fillip to the country’s 'Act East Policy', India is set to hold the first ever 2+2 Dialogue with South Korea after the new Government takes over post-elections. Under the dialogue, the defence and foreign secretaries will be meeting and taking up issues of mutual importance in the domestic, regional and global context, reports Financial Express.

The two nations were earlier supposed to hold the meetings in May 2019, however, given the incumbent defence secretary Sanjay Mitra is set to retire late this month, new dates will have to be worked out for the meeting to take place once the new defence secretary takes over.

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and of President of Korea Moon Jae-in had agreed in July 2019 to start the 2+2 Dialogue format. South Korea therefore would be the third country to hold such a dialogue with India, after Japan and the United States.

The bilateral relations between India and South Korea have been on a major upswing ever since the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took over power in 2014. In February 2019, PM Modi had also been conferred with the prestigious Seoul Peace Prize, making him the first ever Indian to have been bestowed with the honour.