Rajnath to meet defence honchos in South Korea

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will meet top defence honchos from India and South Korea during his two-day visit to the East Asian nation that will begin from Thursday.

The meeting is aimed at increasing the defence industry's co-operation between India and South Korea.

Singh will go to Seoul on Thursday on the last leg of his two-nation tour that begun with his visit to Japan on Monday.

"A CEO's Forum followed by a B2G meeting will also be held in Seoul with the participation of members of defence industry from both sides with the aim to encourage India-RoK (Republic of Korea) defence industry cooperation," Singh tweeted on Wednesday.

India and Japan had issued a joint statement on Tuesday at the end of Singh's visit to the country, reiterating their commitment towards several issues of mutual concern to both countries.

The two countries also pledged to carry forward activities in strategic and defence co-operation.

Singh had met his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya during the visit apart from calling on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He is also scheduled to have a bilateral dialogue with his Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-Doo, besides calling on South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-Yon.

"The bilateral meeting with Republic of Korea will include wide ranging discussions to enhance bilateral defence and security engagements between the two countries," Singh said in another tweet.