Manmohan Singh recalls historic, cultural ties with South Korea

SEOUL: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today recalled India's historical and cultural ties with South Korea dating back to thousands of years, as he proposed to cement relations with Seoul.

"Links between India and Korea go back thousands of years. Lord Buddha's abiding message of peace resonates among both our peoples," Singh said at a banquet hosted in his honour by his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak.

"We know of the legend that a Princess from Ayodhya travelled here to marry King Kim Suro.

I thank you for installing a bust of India's great poet, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, who called your nation the 'Lamp of the East', in Seoul," the Prime Minister said.

India regards you as a great supporter of a strong India-Korea partnership, he told Lee.

"It was during your historic visit to India in 2010 that we upgraded our relations to the level of a Strategic Partnership," Singh said.

"We admire the way you have steered the Korean economy through the global economic downturn".