India and South Korea unveiled 25 bilateral outcomes on the second day of the ongoing summit between the two countries. The summit is being held as a three day affair, with South Korean President Lee Jae-Myung visiting India's capital New Delhi between April 19 and 21.

On the second day of the summit and President Lee's visit, he and Indian Prime Minister Naredra Modi held bilateral talks with delegations from both countries formalising a sweeping series of commercial and strategic outcomes across key industries such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence(AI), clean energy and digital infrastructure, state owned Prasar Bharti reported.

The two leaders also formally announced that a new bilateral trade target of $50bn has been envisioned jointly for 2030. Among the concluded agreements, the centrepiece includes India's Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways signing a port development cooperation Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Purportedly, the agreement will open India's port privatisation and mechanisation sector to Korean terminal operators and infrastructure developers over the next five years, leading to opportunities exceeding $13.3bn.

Specifically on shipbuilding, a non-binding MoU was signed between Seoul's HD Korea Shipbuilding Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of HD Hyundai (KRX:267250), and India's Maritime Development Fund to construct a large greenfield shipyard in southern India.

Another MoU was signed between Indian state owned Bharat Earth Movers Limited (NSE:BEML), HD Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering, to co-develop and manufacture next-generation conventional and autonomous maritime cranes in India.

Furthermore, India's public-sector vessel acquisition plan which is valued at INR2.2 trillion ($23.6bn) and covering more than 400 ships for a variety of use cases and industries was cited as the demand anchor for bilateral industrial partnerships under the Government of India's Shipbuilding Development Scheme.

A newly conceived India-Korea Digital Bridge framework was also unveiled by Prime Minister Modi and President Lee, which covers the key strategically important sectors across AI and semiconductors.

Some meta measures to accelerate and smoothen the economic and industrial pathways were also given their due in the form of, first the resumption of negotiations to upgrade the existing Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and secondly establishing a track-1 economic security dialogue forum to coordinate supply-chain resilience and critical-technology cooperation, reflecting a shared concern about single-geography dependencies in chip and component manufacturing.

On the pillar of clean energy in bilateral relations, South Korea has also formally joined the India led International Solar Alliance and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, and reciprocally India has agreed to join the Global Green Growth Institute.

As is routine with similar bilateral relationships, the agenda for India-South Korea bilateral relations in the modern era also includes people-to-people ties, among the outcomes of the summit, both sides launched a Distinguished Visitors Programme, signed a Cultural Exchange Programme for 2026 through 2030, and announced plans to designate 2028 to 2029 as the Year of India-South Korea Friendship.

While a few dedicated industrial zones for South Korean entities already exist in India, a new industrial township is also being mulled to attract even more green field investment from Seoul's state and private entities.

Specifically on the front of coordinating education and complementary institutions, the Indian Maritime University and South Korea's Korea Maritime and Ocean University were encouraged to finalise a partnership spanning naval architecture, upskilling, green shipping technologies and autonomous vessel research.

Some sector specific agreements which don't neatly fit into the priorities of the pillars highlighted as part of the summit agenda included steel supply chains, science and technology cooperation, digital payments, climate change and mitigation measures, and cross-border investment.