President Lee Myung-bak and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed Sunday to seek greater defense and space cooperation and voiced concerns that North Korea's planned rocket launch would escalate regional tensions.

The agreement was the highlight of a wide-ranging joint statement issued after the summit that was held on the eve of a global anti-nuclear terrorism conference, the Nuclear Security Summit, overshadowed by North Korea's plan to launch a long-range rocket next month to put what it claims is a satellite into orbit.

The rocket plan sparked denunciations from around the world because the move is seen widely as an attempt to test long-range ballistic missile technology, which the communist nation is banned from seeking under a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Lee and Singh agreed on various points to bolster defense cooperation, including expanding cooperation in the defense industry, such as joint research, development and manufacturing in projects related to naval vessels, military aircraft and artillery, the statement said.

Other points included India's plan to establish a military attache at its embassy in Seoul this year and South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin's plan to visit India in the second half of the year in return for the 2010 visit by his Indian counterpart, it said.

The sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation for a "peaceful use of space." South Korea welcomed India's willingness to take part in a bidding in South Korea to select a satellite launch vehicle, the statement said.

On North Korea, Lee and Singh shared an understanding on the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, including denuclearization, the statement said.

"While taking note of North Korea's so-called 'working satellite' launch plan, the two leaders urged that there should be no act whatsoever that escalates regional tensions and violates U.N. Security Council resolutions," the joint statement said.

The two leaders also reaffirmed the importance of joint efforts at nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery means, it said.

On economic issues, Lee and Singh expressed satisfaction that bilateral trade jumped more than 70 percent to over US$20 billion since the comprehensive economic partnership agreement, a sort of a free trade pact, between the two countries went into force in January 2010.

They agreed to work together to reach $40 billion in bilateral trade by 2015, it said.

Singh briefed Lee on India's plan to invest $1 trillion in infrastructure projects and asked for South Korean firms'

participation, saying the country has a transparent and competition-based bidding system, the statement said. (Yonhap News)