President Moon Jae-in met with Indian External Affairs Minister Sushima Swaraj as the first event on day two of his state visit to India. President Moon unveiled the vision of the Korean Government’s New Southern Policy. The meeting was arranged in accordance with long-established Indian diplomatic protocol: the visiting head of state or government should meet with the External Affairs Minister ahead of a scheduled summit.

Korea's trade with India has been on the rise recently, and bilateral relations have been making steady progress since being upgraded to a special strategic partnership in 2015. 

President Moon said that he would strive during this state visit to make the current special strategic partnership with India more substantial as it is a key partner in the New Southern Policy. The President emphasized that he would help expand the horizon of bilateral ties by maximizing the potential for cooperation in new future-growth areas.

Expressing his appreciation to Minister Swaraj for her careful preparations for this visit, President Moon asked the Minister to take an interest in the new policy initiative so that follow-up measures could be fully implemented through the Korea-India foreign minister joint committee. 

Minister Swaraj promised to make every effort to ensure the success of the Korea-India summit until the end.