External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday (June 25, 2026) said that India and South Korea “must cooperate more closely” in fields like ship-building, health, infrastructure and defence.

The Minister also called for “greater capacity and opportunities” for the Global South to create new factors of growth, while highlighting that “the interests of a few” nations are being “openly prioritised” - without naming any country. Mr. Jaishankar is currently in South Korea on a two-day visit, the second leg of an ongoing foreign tour, after having visited Mongolia.

Addressing the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2026, Mr. Jaishankar underlined the importance of economic and technology partnership, political and strategic cooperation and closer people-to-people ties between New Delhi and Seoul.

“India and the Republic of Korea must cooperate more closely,” he said. “We have complementarities in fields like ship–building, digital, health, infrastructure or defence just waiting to be exploited.” The minister further said influential nations must forge “new understandings and closer relationships” to stabilise the global order and address issues and problems through agenda-specific cooperation.

He said: “The Global South should be provided with greater capacity and opportunities. This would also create new factors of global growth.”

“As the interests of a few are openly prioritised, the costs to the many are less considered. This can only be countered by cooperation on more issues with more players. At the end of the day, we will see whether multi-polarity really delivers,” the Foreign Minister said.

Calling for stronger global cooperation, Mr. Jaishankar said, “Whether it is pandemics like Covid-19, acts of terrorism or the impact of extreme climate events, these cannot be contained within political jurisdictions. International cooperation is a must.” Mr. Jaishankar also met the former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former Mongolian Prime Minister Gombojav Zandanshatar on the sidelines of the Jeju Forum.

Earlier, on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), Mr. Jaishankar held talks with his South Korean counterpart Cho Hyun, focusing on bilateral cooperation and the rapidly changing global situation.

The talks focused on follow-up measures in the key areas of trade, investment and finance, agreed during South Korean President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to India in April.