South Korean President Lee Jae Myung begins a three-day visit to India on Monday, where talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi are set to focus on enhancing economic ties.
"The level of economic cooperation between South Korea and India is still very low," Lee said on Sunday at a dinner meeting with members of the Korean community in New Delhi.
"Going forward, we will expand that space and make the relationship between South Korea and India completely different from what it is now."
It is South Korea's first presidential state visit to India in eight years.
New Delhi, Seoul seek to double trade
Discussions on the table between Lee and Modi are expected to include closer cooperation in artificial intelligence, finance and defense, according to South Korean presidential adviser Wi Sung-lac.
The two sides also aim to upgrade their trade pact and nearly double bilateral trade to $50 billion (€42.53 billion) by 2030 from $25.7 billion last year, Wi said.
South Korea exported $19.2 billion worth of goods and services to India last year and imported just $6.4 billion, leaving it with a trade surplus of $12.8 billion, according to data from the Korea International Trade Association.
Lee is also scheduled to attend business events with corporate leaders during the trip.
'Increasingly important strategic partners'
On Sunday, Lee said supply chain instability and global economic strains, particularly caused by the fallout of the Iran war, made the two countries increasingly important strategic partners.
Recently, amid the chaos of the Middle East crisis and stifling of shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, South Korea turned to India seeking greater naphtha supplies. India supplied about 8% of South Korea's naphtha imports last year.
According to experts, shipbuilding is likely to emerge as an area for greater cooperation between the two countries as New Delhi looks to create more jobs, and Seoul leverages its industrial strengths.
After India, Lee will be traveling to Vietnam.
Indians fall back on polluting fuels amid gas crunch
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