The Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Indian Embassy in Hanoi
jointly held a workshop themed “Vietnam-India Strategic Partnership:
Future Orientations” in Hanoi on July 17.
The event marked the 40 th anniversary of Vietnam-India diplomatic ties
(1972-2012) and five years of the establishment of strategic
partnership between the two countries (2007-2012).
It was also an important activity in the Vietnam-India Friendship Year
2012, agreed by the two countries’ leaders during President Truong Tan
Sang’s official visit to India in October 2011.
Participants at the event said that Vietnam and India own a
time-honoured traditional friendship, which was fostered by President Ho
Chi Minh and Prime Minister J. Nehru.
Over the
past 40 years, in any circumstance, India has always been a reliable
and faithful friend of Vietnam and supported the Vietnamese people’s
legitimate struggle in the past, as well as their current national
renewal and development.
The Vietnam-India
relationship is being strengthened, especially since the two countries
signed a joint statement on the official establishment of their
strategic partnership in 2007.
The two sides have
exchanged high-ranking delegations and effectively implemented bilateral
cooperation agreements, as well as coordinated with each other at
regional and international forums.
Cooperation
mechanisms such as the Vietnam-India inter-governmental committee on
science-technology and culture-education, political consultations and
strategic dialogue between the two Foreign Ministries have proved
effective, helping further strengthen the mutual trust and
understanding.
The Vietnam-India economic, trade
and investment relations have developed rapidly. Two-way trade between
the two nations reached 3.9 billion USD in 2011, quadrupling the figure
of five years ago. In the first six months of this year, the bilateral
trade was 1.89 billion USD.
Vietnam-India trade has had a stable legal framework and India has recognised Vietnam as a market economy.
A number of investment cooperation projects have been set up between
the two sides, including a joint venture project on oil and gas
exploration between India ’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited
(ONGC) and the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam). A
project between the Vietnam Steel Corporation and the Vietnam Rubber
Group and India ’s Tata Steel Group to invest in building a steel
plant in central Ha Tinh province is also highly valued.
Bilateral cooperation in science and technology has been developed
since 1978 with the signing of cooperation agreements between the two
governments.
The Vietnam-India subcommittee on
scientific and technological cooperation has to date convened eight
sessions and carried out 13 joint research projects in information
technology, agriculture, animal husbandry, industry, remote sensing and
environmental protection.
India has helped
Vietnam train experts and researchers in the fields of atomic energy
and IT human resource training.
At the workshop,
many proposals were put forth to further strengthen the strategic
partnership between Vietnam and India, including increasing the exchange
of visits at all levels, stepping up research cooperation between
Vietnamese and Indian agencies and institutes as well as perfecting
common legal frameworks between the two nations.
Participants stressed the need to set up a joint trade committee at an
early date and cooperate in building scientific-technological parks in
Vietnam .
In addition to bilateral issues, they
also discussed regional and international issues, especially the
emerging security architecture in Asia-Pacific.-VNA