Our Correspondent / NEW DELHI

South Korean President Moon Jae-in today arrived here on a four day visit to India. He is being accompanied by First Lady Kim Jung-sook on his maiden visit to the nation. Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh received the visiting dignitary at the airport.

President Moon along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Gandhi Smriti on Monday. Both leaders will also visit a Samsung plant which is located in Noida. Mr Moon, who is accompanied by senior members of his Cabinet, officials, as well as industry captains, will be given a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday.

He will hold delegation level talks with Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday. A number of agreements are expected to be signed after the talks. He will also meet President Ram Nath Kovind.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will call on the visiting leader on Monday. President Moon will also attend the India-Korea business forum.

The visit is likely to open new avenues for expanding the bilateral partnership, particularly in the economic domain.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited South Korea in 2015 during which the bilateral partnership was elevated to a special strategic partnership. Since then, the relationship has expanded in several areas.

A financing arrangement of 10 billion dollars has been set by the Korean side for infrastructure development in India. Major items of India’s exports to Korea are mineral fuels/oil distillates, cereals, iron and steel.

Korea’s main export items include automobile parts, telecommunication equipment, hot rolled iron products, petroleum refined products, and nuclear reactors.

Indian nationals living in South Korea is estimated to be around 11,000. Around 1,000 Indian scholars are pursuing postgraduate and Ph. D programmes, mostly in pure sciences in Korea.