Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Monday kicked off a three-day visit to South Korea to bolster military cooperation with the east Asian country, the army said in a statement.

This is Naravane’s fifth visit to a foreign country during the Covid-19 pandemic after Myanmar, Nepal, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The army chief will hold talks with South Korea’s senior military and civilian leadership during the visit (December 28-30).

Apart from laying a wreath at the National Cemetery and War Memorial at Seoul, Naravane’s itinerary will see him call on the Korean defence minister, army chief, chairman of joint chiefs of staff, and minister of defence acquisition planning administration (DAPA) where he will discuss avenues for enhancing India-South Korea defence ties, the statement said.

He will also visit the Korea Combat Training Centre in Inje County in Gangwon and the Agency for Defence Development (ADD) at Daejeon.