India and Korea will proceed with discussions in Seoul to take forward the FTAs between the nations. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was initiated in January 2010 and so far 10 rounds of the review meetings have been concluded. A high level delegation from India will visit Seoul from July 17 to 19 to proceed with next round of review meetings.
The discussions will mainly focus on greater market access, especially for products which are in the negative market list, providing Customs duty concessions for these products. Different ministries including heavy industries, steel and chemicals will be involved in preparing this list. India has sought greater market access for certain products like steel, rice, and shrimp from South Korea to boost exports of these goods and has flagged issues over Korean firms not buying Indian steel. The trade deficit between India and Korea has been growing over the years.
