Indian newswire: India, Vietnam deepen relationship
New Delhi (VNA) – India’s The Diplomat newswire
has run an article entitled “India – Vietnam relations: Strong and Getting Stronger”
by scholar Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan from the Observer Research Foundation,
saying that the two countries continue deepening their relationship.
The
article said India and Vietnam recently held the 17th meeting
of their bilateral Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and
Technological Cooperation which was co-chaired by Indian External Affairs Minister
S. Jaishankar and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham
Binh Minh via a video conference.
Both sides were pleased with the outcomes of the
meeting and the pace of bilateral relationship. Jaishankar was particularly
appreciative of Vietnam’s positive leadership of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) this year, especially at a time when the region is battling the
COVID-19 pandemic.
At
the meeting, the two sides took stock of the state of the India-Vietnam
comprehensive strategic partnership and agreed to step up their defence and
economic partnership. They put special emphasis on areas such as
civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences, and emerging technologies. India
and Vietnam also agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership “in line with
India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the ASEAN’s Outlook on
Indo-Pacific to achieve shared security, prosperity and growth for all in the
region.”
The IPOI
is an initiative launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the East
Asia Summit in Thailand in November 2019. The initiative is centred around
seven pillars, including maritime security; maritime ecology; maritime resources;
capacity building and resources sharing; disaster risk reduction and management;
science, technology, and academic cooperation; and trade connectivity and
maritime transport. India has called on Vietnam to partner on one of the seven
pillars of the IPOI.
At
the recent Joint Commission meeting, India also reiterated its development and
capacity assistance for Vietnam through quick impact projects (QIP), Indian
Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) and e-ITEC initiatives, Ph.D.
fellowships and proposals in the area of water resources management in Vietnam’s
Mekong Delta region, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and digital
connectivity.
The
Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in its press release also said India has
already approved 12 QIPs for implementation in Vietnam, including seven in
water resources management in the Mekong Delta region and five linked to
construction of educational infrastructure.
Research
and training are also important in the bilateral agenda and this has translated
to a couple of memoranda of understanding between the India’s Sushma Swaraj
Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS) and the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, and
between the National Maritime Foundation of India and the Vietnam Institute of Seas and Islands.
Keeping in mind the strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific
region, India and Vietnam have decided to work in close coordination at
multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Security Council. They
also decided to continue the momentum in regional strategic platforms such as
those under ASEAN./.