NEW DELHI: In a significant upgrade in bilateral defence ties, India and South Korea inked a naval logistics sharing pact and have formulated a road map for joint production and research for military systems during a high-level visit by defence minister Rajnath Singh to Seoul.Taking forward the special strategic partnership between the two nations, the decision to extend logistical support to each other’s navies will significantly enhance Indian reach in the Indo-Pacific and will place South Korea amongst close partners like the US and France that have similar bilateral pacts.While Korean companies have been active in the Indian defence sector – the K9 Vajra mobile artillery guns are being made by L&T in collaboration with Hanwha Land Systems – the two sides have decided to take this ahead during Singh’s visit.Officials said that a “forward looking roadmap” that is designed to take defence industry cooperation to “the next level” has been formulated and was presented to leaders at a meeting in Seoul in the presence of the Indian defence minister and Korean Minister of Defence Acquisition and Program Administration Wang Jung-hong.“The roadmap has listed a number of proposed areas of co-operation in sectors of land systems, aero systems, naval systems, research and development co-operation and collaboration in testing, certification and quality assurance,” Singh said at the bilateral meeting.The senior Indian minister will also set up a joint task force that will identify military systems that can be locally produced in India and will be economically viable for Korean companies to participate in.Singh said that India offers tremendous business opportunity to Korean defence industries and briefed top executive on new initiatives like the defence industrial corridors being promoted by the government. He also shared the new Indian vision to become a hub for arms exports to friendly nations in the region.“We are progressing towards becoming a manufacturing hub of defence equipment and investors can use India as a spring board to export defence equipment manufactured in India to various friendly countries in Asia and Africa”, Singh said.As reported by ET, India has set an ambitious target for itself when it comes to defence exports, with the belief that external markets have to be tapped to nurse a commercially viable military industrial complex. The government plan is to give the defence sector a $ 25 billion pie in the $ 1 trillion Indian manufacturing economy that it targets for 2025. Out of this, defence exports by Indian companies is targeted at $ 5 billion.