India and South Korea are keen to work together in the area of nuclear power and the issue is likely to figure in discussions during South Korean President Lee Myung Bak's visit beginning Sunday, officials said.Lee, accompanied by a large delegation of ministers and business leaders, arrived inthe southern Indian city of Chennai on a four-day visit.
The South Korean president will be chief guest at India's Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi Tuesday, an honour reserved for India's closest allies. Lee is scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna and other top Indian leaders in New Delhi on Monday. Discussions between the two sides would cover a range of areas including defence, trade and investment and co-operation in science, technology and space, India's Foreign Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said during a briefing on Friday.
Lee's engagements also include meetings with Indian and Korean businessmen. One of his first engagements in Chennai was a visit to the Hyundai motors plant near the Tamil Nadu state capital. At least 300 South Korean companies have investments in India. The two countries are expected to sign agreements in the areas of information technology and space technology, foreign ministry official in charge of East Asia Gautam Bambawale said.
Asked about nuclear technology co-operation, Bambawale said India was grateful for South Korea's support at the Nuclear Supplier's Group in september 2009.
"We are also aware of the capabilities that the ROK (Republic of South Korea) has in this area ... Both sides are keen to work in this area which is of interest not only to India but also to ROK." A South Korean consortium won a 20.4 billion-dollar-contract to build four civil nuclear power units in the United Arab Emirates recently in one of Middle East's biggest energy deals.
India has signed civil nuclear accords with seven countries - the United States, France, Russia, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Argentina and Mongolia and is expected to sign another one with Canada in 2010. The issue of the 12-billion-dollar South Korean Posco steel project in Orissa, the single largest direct foreign investment in India, is also likely to come up during discussions.
There have been hitches with local people protesting over the location of the plant. But India's federal Ministry of Environment and Forests gave the second stage of environmental clearance for the project in December setting the tone for Lee's visit.
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