India, South Korea agree to deepen defence ties during Rajnath Singh’s Seoul visit

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Seoul on May 20, 2026, and held bilateral talks with South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu Back to deepen the India-So...

What Happened

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited Seoul on May 20, 2026, and held bilateral talks with South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu Back to deepen the India-South Korea Special Strategic Partnership in the defence domain.
Three pacts were signed covering: cyber defence cooperation, training linkages between India's National Defence College (NDC) and Korea's National Defence University (KNDU), and UN peacekeeping cooperation.
Two industry-level agreements were concluded between Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and South Korean defence major Hanwha Aerospace to advance co-development and manufacturing of defence technologies.
Both sides discussed advancement of the KIND-X (Korea-India Defence Innovation Accelerator) initiative, modeled on the India-US iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) and INDUS-X platforms.
The K9 Vajra howitzer partnership — a landmark India-South Korea co-production programme — was discussed for further expansion with greater technology transfer, including to anti-aircraft guns and missile systems.
The visit underscored the convergence of India's "Act East" policy and South Korea's regional strategic vision in the Indo-Pacific.

Static Topic Bridges

India-South Korea Special Strategic Partnership

India and South Korea established a "Special Strategic Partnership" in 2015, when Prime Minister Modi visited South Korea (May 18-19, 2015). The relationship has grown across defence, trade, technology, and people-to-people ties. South Korea was one of only a handful of countries to hold this tier of partnership with India before Italy's elevation in 2026.

Diplomatic relations established: 1973.
Special Strategic Partnership: established May 2015.
India-Republic of Korea (ROK) Strategic Vision 2026-2030: unveiled during South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to New Delhi in April 2026.
Bilateral trade target: significant increase envisioned under the 2026-2030 vision.
South Korea is India's 7th largest trade partner; major sectors include electronics, machinery, chemicals, and automobiles.
India-Korea CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement): signed 2009, in force 2010.

Connection to this news: The defence minister's visit to Seoul builds directly on the Special Strategic Partnership framework and the freshly unveiled 2026-2030 Strategic Vision, operationalising the political commitment into specific defence agreements.

India's Act East Policy

India's Act East Policy was announced in November 2014 (at the 9th East Asia Summit, Nay Pyi Daw, Myanmar) as a successor to the "Look East Policy" (launched 1991) — upgrading India's engagement with the Asia-Pacific from passive looking to active participation. South Korea, Japan, and ASEAN nations are central to this policy.

Look East Policy: launched by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1991; initially focused on ASEAN trade relations as part of economic liberalisation.
Act East Policy launched: November 13, 2014 (9th East Asia Summit, Myanmar).
Four C's of Act East: Culture, Connectivity, Commerce, and Capacity Building.
Key institutional mechanisms: ASEAN-India Summit, East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM+), Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.
South Korea's "New Southern Policy" (2017-2022) and subsequent Indo-Pacific strategy have sought deeper engagement with India, creating mutual strategic convergence.

Connection to this news: Rajnath Singh's Seoul visit is a concrete expression of Act East Policy's defence dimension, demonstrating that India's eastward engagement now includes high-technology military co-production, not just trade and cultural linkages.

Defence Industrial Co-production: K9 Vajra and the iDEX/KIND-X Model

Defence co-production represents a higher rung of bilateral defence engagement compared to government-to-government (G2G) procurement. India's defence policy has shifted significantly toward co-development and co-production under the "Make in India" framework in defence (Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020).

K9 Vajra: a 155mm/52-calibre self-propelled tracked howitzer, indigenously produced by Larsen & Toubro (L&T) under a technology transfer arrangement with South Korea's Hanwha Defence (formerly Samsung Techwin). Indian Army has procured multiple phases.
Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020: replaced DPP 2016; prioritises domestic procurement categories (Make I, Make II, iDEX, strategic partnerships).
iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence): launched 2018; funds defence startups for rapid prototyping. INDUS-X is the India-US variant (launched June 2023).
KIND-X (Korea-India Defence Accelerator): announced to link Indian and Korean defence innovation ecosystems, mirroring INDUS-X architecture.
Hanwha Aerospace is one of South Korea's largest defence conglomerates; L&T Defence is a leading Indian private defence manufacturer.
Technology transfer in Phase 3 of K9 Vajra programme involves higher indigenisation content and expansion to new platforms.

Connection to this news: The L&T-Hanwha agreements and KIND-X initiative signal India-South Korea moving from buyer-seller to genuine co-development partners — a qualitative shift in defence industrial cooperation aligned with India's Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) goals.

Cyber Defence Cooperation

Cyber defence has emerged as a critical domain of bilateral defence agreements globally. For India, cyber threats from state and non-state actors have grown alongside digital infrastructure expansion. International cyber defence cooperation involves information sharing, joint exercises, capacity building, and norms development.

India's National Cyber Security Policy 2013 (under revision) and the National Cyber Security Coordinator (under NSA) oversee cyber security governance.
The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), established under the Information Technology Act, 2000, is the nodal agency for cyber incident response.
South Korea's Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) is the counterpart cyber security body.
Bilateral cyber cooperation agreements typically cover: information sharing on threats, joint cyber drills, technical capacity exchange, and coordination on international cyber norms (UN GGE process).
India is party to the UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on Responsible State Behaviour in Cyberspace, which has produced key norms documents (2013, 2015, 2021).

Connection to this news: The India-South Korea cyber defence pact extends cooperation to a non-kinetic but critical security domain, reflecting the evolution of defence partnerships to cover the full spectrum of modern warfare and security challenges.

Key Facts & Data

India-South Korea diplomatic relations established: 1973
Special Strategic Partnership established: May 2015 (PM Modi's Seoul visit)
India-Korea CEPA: signed 2009, in force 2010
Act East Policy launched: November 13, 2014 (9th East Asia Summit, Myanmar)
Look East Policy launched: 1991 (PM Narasimha Rao)
K9 Vajra: 155mm/52-calibre self-propelled howitzer; produced by L&T with Hanwha technology transfer
DAP 2020: Defence Acquisition Procedure (replaced DPP 2016)
iDEX: Innovations for Defence Excellence (launched 2018)
INDUS-X: India-US defence innovation platform (launched June 2023)
KIND-X: Korea-India Defence Innovation Accelerator (announced 2026)
Agreements signed in Seoul (May 20, 2026): cyber defence, NDC-KNDU training, UN peacekeeping, plus 2 L&T-Hanwha industry pacts
National Defence College (NDC): New Delhi (India's premier defence training institution)
CERT-In: established under IT Act, 2000; nodal cyber incident response agency