'Korea-India Business Summit' was held in New Delhi, India from January 14 to 15. The summit was attended by about 500 persons, including heads of Korea's leading conglomerates, CEOs of SMEs, lawmakers, heads of public institutions, and Indian businessmen. Korea's delegation met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed economic cooperation. The successful hosting of the event jointly hosted by Chosun Ilbo, Confederation of Indian Industry, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Korea International Trade Association was mainly attributable to the efforts of Korean Ambassador to India Cho Hyun and Indian Ambassador to South Korea Vikram Doraiswami. The two ambassadors exerted active efforts to act as a bridge between the two countries.

After the event was over, Korean Ambassador to India Cho Hyun (59) invited heads of small businesses of South Korea and India to the ambassador's residence on January 15. "Indian market is so large and multi-layered that it can be the land of opportunity for even SMEs," Ambassador Cho said. "I wanted to use this event as an opportunity to promote that there are plenty of fruits for Korean SMEs to pick in India even though they do not have world-class technology." At the export/investment consultation for SMEs held on the sidelines of Korea-India Business Summit, 27 SMEs from Korea attracted buyers from 115 Indian companies and deals were signed to export products worth $3 million to India within a year.

Ambassador Cho, who started his new post in October 2015, became a diplomat in 1979 and served as Director General for International Economic Affairs Bureau, Ambassador for Energy and Resources, and Korean Ambassador to Austria. While mentioning that in the summit India's Haryana state set up sisterhood relationship with Korea's Daegu city to pursue exchanges among companies, he pointed out that "India's longstanding municipal system can be a blessing, not an obstacle to reform." He added that "I was surprised by India's local governments because they have competitively held investor relations meetings and suggested the establishment of exclusive industrial complexes for Korean companies and a variety of incentives for them."

Indian Ambassador to South Korea Vikram Doraiswami (45) said on January 18 that "I showed articles related to Korea-India Business Summit reported by Chosun Ilbo to Prime Minister Modi. He was very happy to see them, saying the summit is perfect." Ambassador Doraiswami is a young aide who is very close to Prime Minister Modi. The intimacy between Doraiswami and Modi is often likened to the relationship between U.S. President Obama and U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert.

Ambassador Doraiswami earned a master's degree in history from Delhi University and worked as a reporter before starting his career as a diplomat from 1994. After serving as Deputy Chief of Protocol in the Ministry of External Affairs, political counselor at the Indian Mission to the UN, and director of Division for North America in the Ministry of External Affairs, Doraiswami took his post as Indian Ambassador to South Korea last year. For this summit, he fled to New Delhi to take care of the event in person and to meet with businessmen of South Korea and India.

An official of the Ministry of External Affairs of India said "Mr. Doraiswami is one of the competent diplomats. He held key posts including director of Division for North America and served as Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan. Then in less than one year, he was strategically appointed as Ambassador to South Korea," adding "He is one of the ambassadors who have great trust from Prime Minister Modi." Ambassador Doraiswami mentioned that "This event was terrific in that it provided a venue for practical business to businessmen of both countries who seek business opportunities."