Tuesday, February 7 2006 15:52 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Seoul: Giving a new momentum to bilateral ties, India and South Korea today (Feb 7 2006) signed three accords, including one on setting up a Joint Task Force to firm up a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) encompassing trade in goods, services and investment.

The signing of the agreements capped talks visiting President A P J Abdul Kalam had with his South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-Hyun followed by the delegation-level parleys between the two sides.

The two sides also decided to hold dialogue on security and foreign policy in the second quarter of this year.

The Task Force on CEPA, which will have 66 members each from Government and private sector from both countries, will submit its report by the end of next year, External Affairs Secretary (East) Rajiv Sikri told sources here.

The first meeting of the Task Force would be held in March this year at a venue yet to be decided.

Sikri termed CEPA as 'FTA-plus,' saying it went beyond free trade in selected goods and has a much broader sweep covering investment and services.

This was the first time that India is to enter into a CEPA with a member of 30-strong Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

A Joint Ministerial Statement, which announced formation of the Task Force for CEPA, said that given the complementarities between the two economies, there was a huge potential in all areas to be harnessed.