Mr.Modi will receive the Seoul Peace Prize from the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation, will meet Moon Jae-in and the Mayor of Gimhae

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit South Korea on February 21-22, the Ministry of External Affairs announced on Thursday. The State visit is taking place less than a year after President Moon Jae-in visited India.

Announcing the visit, Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary in charge of the eastern hemisphere in the Ministry of External Affairs, said that the brief tour will include a ceremony where Prime Minister Modi will receive the Seoul Peace Prize from the Seoul Peace Prize Cultural Foundation.

Past recipients

The prize is given in recognition of the contribution to global peace and development. Past recipients of the prize include German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former U.N.

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, among others. A South Korean diplomatic source informed that Prime Minister Modi and President Moon will meet one-on-one soon after the beginning of the visit.

“Both India and South Korea are important regional powers and we are certain that President Moon and Prime Minister Modi will exchange notes about the important developments, especially since we share the common Asia Pacific region,” said a South Korean diplomat.

The significance of the visit comes from the fact that it will be held just ahead of the second round of meetings between U.S. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. India has extended support to the dialogue process that has brought down tension in the Korean peninsula considerably. “Prime Minister Modi has been a strong supporter of the Korean peace talks,” said the South Korean diplomatic source appreciating India’s stance.

Mr. Singh said that India supports the dialogue process, which will be held in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi on February 27-28 and highlighted that South Korea should bring up past proliferation concerns regarding North Korea in the talks.

The Secretary highlighted that the visit is part of intensifying bilateral ties that recently witnessed a number of bilateral visits, including by the Foreign and Defence Ministers of South Korea. Following the visit by the President of Korea, the First Lady of South Korea Kim-Jung Sook paid a visit to India in November when she participated in celebrations in Ayodhya which has mythical ties with the East Asian country.

On February 21, Mr. Modi will meet the Mayor of Gimhae, a city that was supposedly the home of the mythical Princess Suriratna who left Ayodhya and made the city of Gimhae her home. The Prime Minister will handover a banyan root from the Mahabodhi tree to the Mayor. Mr. Modi will launch the India-Korea start-up hub on arriving in Seoul and will meet the India-Korea Parliamentarians forum.