Indian Embassy’s services shut for visit

The Indian Embassy in Seoul will close its consular wing from July 26 to July 27 due to Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s state visit to South Korea from July 24-27.

The aim of President Patil’s visit, which comes at the invitation of President Lee Myung-bak, is to increase cooperation between India and Korea.

Presdient Lee previously visited India in January 2010 as Chief Guest for India’s Republic Day celebrations.

During his four-day trip, Lee had discussions with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visited the Hyundai Motor India factory in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu.

Formal diplomatic relations between India, Asia’s third-largest economy, and Korea were established in 1973.

Since then, trade between the countries has grown rapidly, with bilateral merchandise trade increasing from $0.55 billion in 1991 to $8.86 billion in 2007.

(john.power@heraldcorp.com )