AK Antony to be on South Korea visit from September 2, 2010

In a bid to strengthen bilateral defence ties, defence minister AK Antony will be on a three-day visit to South Korea starting September 2, 2010.

Antony will be the first Indian defence minister to visit Seoul and will try to expand bilateral military ties between the two countries which have been till now restricted to low-level naval exercises.

The two sides are also likely to discuss the modernisation programme of Indian armed forces as many of the Korean companies are vying for Indian armed forces' equipment acquisition programmes such as the basic trainer aircraft and naval warship construction contracts.

Lately, there has been a thrust in the 'Look East' policy of the government under which efforts have been stepped up to establish closer ties with South-East Asian countries such as Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

The three Services have been engaging the armed forces of the region in different war games and exercises. Singapore has been sending its armed forces for training at Indian locations on an annual basis and other forces in the region also hold bilateral and multilateral exercises with Indian troops.