President Moon Jae-in had his first telephone conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today since he was inaugurated. Their conversation lasted for approximately 25 minutes from 3:35 this afternoon.

President Moon began by thanking the Prime Minister for posting a congratulatory message upon his election on Twitter last night, which was even in Korean at that. He went on to note that India was continuing its high-flying economic growth since Prime Minister Modi took office, growing into a global powerhouse. The President said he saluted the extraordinary leadership of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Modi said he wholeheartedly congratulated President Moon on his election and offered congratulations also to the Korean people, who demonstrated for all to see that the power of democracy can prevail. He continued to express his conviction that President Moon would be able to carry out government affairs without any setback based on his abundant experience in the running of state affairs even though he took office without a presidential transition committee. 

Recalling his time as a state governor in the past, Prime Minister Modi explained how much he valued the relationship with Korea and how much he emphasized at every opportunity that Korea was a model for India’s economic development.

President Moon said he expected that Prime Minister Modi`s active diplomatic engagement via the Act East Policy would help elevate India`s international standing further. The President also noted that the two nations needed to strive to expand trade and investment by improving the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement(CEPA), and enhance cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Concerning the international community`s responses to the North Korean nuclear issue, President Moon gave a high evaluation to India`s backing of the Korean Government and its participation in global efforts to apply sanctions against North Korea in opposition to its nuclear development. The President went on to explain about his Administration`s policy of pursuing sanctions in parallel with dialogue to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue. 

Speaking of the experiences he had during his two trips to India in the past, President Moon expressed the hope they would be able to visit each other’s country at a mutually convenient time. 

Prime Minister Modi extended an invitation for President Moon to visit India at the earliest possible date and suggested that they hold a bilateral summit on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting such as the G20 Summit or the East Asia Summit.

President Moon expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Modi for the invitation and said he was looking forward to meeting him in person soon.