
The Indian Embassy in Seoul celebrated India's 76th Republic Day on Friday, highlighting India-Korea bilateral milestones.
The day commemorates the adoption of India's constitution in 1949, declaring India a "sovereign socialist secular democratic republic" that upholds the principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all citizens.
In his speech at the event, Indian Ambassador to Korea Amit Kumar reiterated India’s transformation and development in the decades since and its ties with South Korea.
India and South Korea established diplomatic ties on December 10, 1973. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the two countries' special strategic partnership.
Their ties deepened in the late 1980s with India's "Look East" policy and gained momentum in the 1990s under Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, whose 1993 visit to Seoul strengthened bilateral ties.
Other milestones include the 1996 state visit by President Kim Young-sam, the 2004 "long-term cooperative partnership" under President Roh Moo-hyun, and the 2010 "strategic partnership" under President Lee Myung-bak. The partnership was elevated to a "special strategic partnership" during President Park Geun-hye's 2014 visit, which was formalized during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2015 Korea visit.
South Korea has forged a special strategic partnership with only a few countries, including India, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.

South Korea seeks to strengthen value-based solidarity with India by aligning the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" with India's vision for the Indo-Pacific region, focusing on peace, security and a rules-based order, including on the Korean Peninsula and the G20 stage.
According to Kumar, the year 2024 witnessed substantive diplomatic engagements marked by five meetings between foreign ministers of India and Korea.
“We established new dialogue mechanisms, including trilaterally with the US on technology security and with Japan on policy planning,” said Kumar.
In March 2024, the United States, India and South Korea held their first trilateral technology dialogue, focusing on cooperation in critical technologies like semiconductors, AI, quantum and clean energy.
The three sides affirmed their commitment to strengthening supply chains, supporting Indo-Pacific security and economic interests, protecting sensitive technologies, and building trusted global technology ecosystems, according to the US Embassy in Seoul.
The first ROK-India-Japan Trilateral Policy Planning Dialogue occurred on October 21, 2024, in Seoul.
ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
In the dialogue, representatives from the three countries discussed global and regional ways to enhance trilateral cooperation and global governance.
South Korea is seeking commitments to reinforce the rule-based international order through minilateral networks.
The Indian ambassador mentioned new bilateral milestones, including the Korea Investment Corporation, the national sovereign fund, opening an office in Mumbai, as well as the $3.3 billion public listing by Hyundai Motor Group in India — their only listing outside Korea — and the announcement by Korean steelmaker Posco and Indian conglomerate JSW Group to build an integrated steel plant in India with an annual capacity of 5 million metric tons.

In April 2024, KIC opened its first office in Mumbai, targeting alternative investments in venture capital, private equity, infrastructure and real estate.
Hyundai Motor India went public on October 22, 2024, raising $3.3 billion in India's largest-ever IPO, aiming to make India a global manufacturing hub for exports to Europe and Southeast Asia.
Posco has signed a memorandum of understanding with JSW Group to collaborate on steel, battery materials and renewable energy, planning to build an integrated steel mill in India's Odisha state with a 5 million ton annual capacity.
According to Kumar, the Indian community in South Korea has almost tripled over the past seven years to around 17,500 people with enhanced connectivity through academia, higher education, media, culture and tourism
The event was attended by more than 700 people, with the attendance of members from the diplomatic corps, Indian community members, Indian Embassy officials and their families, South Korean foreign ministry officials, think tank staff, academics, the media, and non-governmental organization staff.