Article Posted on : - Feb 07, 2012

KOLKATA (PTI): South Korea is keen to forge a partnership with India's defence sector in shipbuilding, electronics and aeronautics where it has cutting edge technology, its Ambassador to India Kim Joong-Keun said here Monday.

India is expected to spend USD 100 billion on defence modernisation and acquisition programme over the next five years, Joong-Keun said.

He said a Korean firm had been selected by India to supply eight minesweepers and a number of other Korean firms were participating in various biddings under India's defence modernisation programme.

''If these firms become successful, it will mark the beginning of long-term defence cooperation between the two countries,'' Keun said at an interactive session with the Merchants' Chamber of Commerce.

Dwelling on civil nuclear energy cooperation between the two countries, Keun said ''this has opened up new avenues for enhancing our economic relationship.''

He said Korea was engaged in building nuclear power plants for the last four decades and has 20 nuclear power plants which account for 40 per cent of its energy need.

''We are already in discussion to set up nuclear plants in India,'' he said.