India asks South Korea to help in getting NSG membership

SEOUL: South Korea, the current chair of NSG, should reach out to the member countries, to help India get early membership of the grouping, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said today as she met her counterpart here.

Mahajan, who is leading Parliamentary delegation to South Korea, also discussed issues related to terrorism and other matters during her meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Chung Sye-Kyun here.

She thanked South Korea for its support to India's candidature for the membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

As Korea is the current chair of NSG, Mahajan sought greater support from the country in reaching out to the Participating Governments (PGs) in the NSG to lead to an early membership for India, said a statement issued by the Lok Sabha secretariat.

She noted that the two countries have been working together in regional and multilateral fora on this issue and other key issues including disarmament, climate change and sustainable development.

Mahajan said that India and South Korea share common concerns in fight against international terrorism.

Mentioning that during Prime Minister Modi's successful visit in May 2015 Indo-South Korean ties had upgraded to 'Special Strategic Partnership', Mahajan observed that 'Special Strategic Partnership' had deepened.

She further said that India looks forward to forging new partnerships with Korea in areas of common interest.

She invited investors and entrepreneurs from Korea to join Indian counterparts in the "Make in India" initiative and said that Korea could be valuable partner in India's programmes for skill development, Digital India, Smart Cities, etc.

She felt that India's highly skilled young manpower, huge market and strength in IT software combined with Korean technology, industrial experience and capital was a winning combination.