At the talks (Photo: VNA)During talks between Vietnamese Minister ofDefence Ngo Xuan Lich and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar in New Delhion December 5, the two sides expressed their belief that the former’s visit toIndia from December 4-7 will strengthen relations between the two countries’peoples and armies.
Minister Lich said the elevation of bilateraldefence collaboration to a new height will contribute to the comprehensivestrategic partnership agreed by top leaders in September 2016.
The two ministers highlighted the traditionalfriendship between Vietnam and India, which was founded by late President HoChi Minh and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and nurtured by generations ofleaders and peoples of the two nations.
India is a close and reliable friend to Vietnam,Lich said, adding that the Vietnamese Government and people remember India’sassistance in the cause of national independence and reform.
He noted that India considers Vietnam a keypillar in the “Act East Policy”, while Vietnam is willing to serve as a bridgefor India to develop ties with other members of the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN).
Both sides expressed their pleasure at bilateralcollaboration in training, peace keeping, strategies research and viewpointsexchanges at multilateral forums.
The Vietnam People’s Navy and the Indian Navyhave signed an agreement sharing information on non-military marine services,while the Indian defence company Larsen & Toubro has inked a contract tobuild patrol vessels for the Vietnam Coast Guard using a 100-million-USD creditpackage of the Indian Government.
Other significant outcomes include the signingof a cooperation programme between the two countries’ peacekeeping centres andthe joint exercise between Vietnamese marine police and Indian coast guard inOctober 2016.
The two ministers agreed on a number of issuesto implement the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam-India Defence Relations forthe 2015-2020 period such as increasing all-level delegation exchanges,especially among young military officials, promoting the deputyministerial-level defence policy dialogue, and enhancing collaboraton intraining.
India pledged to help Vietnam train officialswhile Vietnam is willing to receive Indian students to study Vietnamese andopen training courses for international senior officials at the VietnamNational Defence Academy.
The two sides also attached importance to navalcooperation to carry out activities on search and rescue at sea and implementthe Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea.
Regarding the defence industry, the IndianMinister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed India’s interest insteeping up cooperation with Vietnam and pledged to provide a 500-million-USDcredit package to implement joint projects in this field.
After talks, the two ministers witnessed thesigning of a cooperation agreement between the Vietnam Air Defence – Air Forceand the Indian Air Force.
A conference was held the same day to discussbilateral cooperation in defence industry./.
