Indian President Ram Nath Kovind. (Photo: Newsnation) Hanoi (VNA) - Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and hisspouse Savita Kovind on November 18 began a three-day visit to Vietnam at theinvitation of President Nguyen Phu Trong.
This is the firstState visit to Vietnam byPresident Kovind, and also his first trip to Asiasince he took office in July 2017.
It holds significancein consolidating and developing the thriving Vietnam-India comprehensivestrategic partnership.
While in Vietnam,President Kovind is scheduled to meet leaders of the central city of Da Nangand visit the world cultural heritage My Son in the central province of QuangNam, said Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau at a press conference held by theVietnamese Embassy on November 15.
In Hanoi on November 20, the President will holdtalks with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam CentralCommittee and President Nguyen Phu Trong, and meet National Assembly ChairwomanNguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
He will alsodeliver a speech at Vietnam’slegislature, becoming the second foreign leader to address the Vietnamese NA,after Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Vietnam and India set up their diplomatic tieson January 7, 1972. In 2007, the Vietnam-India relationship was lifted tostrategic partnership level, with a focus on politics-diplomacy, nationaldefence-security, economy-trade, energy, science-technology andculture-education.
Following the Vietnam’s visit by Indian PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in September 2016, both sides upgraded their strategicpartnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership to meet demand in the newsituation.
In March this year, then President Tran DaiQuang and his spouse paid a State visit to India. The visit helped materialisecontents of the Vietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership whilestrengthening the bilateral relationship.-VNA
VNA
