Vietnam, India boost comprehensive strategic partnership

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and Speaker of the Indian Lok Sabha (the lower house) Om Birla in a meeting in Hanoi in April 2022 (Photo: VNA).

Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) and the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on May 26 jointly organised a dialogue themed “Strengthening the Vietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership".

As part of activities to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties and 5 years of the Vietnam – India comprehensive strategic partnership, the third event of its kind aims to step up cooperation and connection between the two leading scientific research institutions, policy-making agencies, scientists and diplomats of the two countries, in new fields.

In his remarks, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Rranay Verma said the two countries have been committed to addressing common challenges such as climate change and poverty, towards promoting sustainable development and inclusive growth.

The two sides have similar views on many regional and international issues, which creates the basis for their closer cooperation in the regional and international arenas, he added.

Dr. Pham Cao Cuong, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Indian and Southwest Asian Studies, said the two sides need to further enhance dialogue and people-to-people exchange, beef up trade cooperation, and promote mechanisms such as the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC).

According to Dr. Temjenmeren Ao, a researcher from the ICWA, the elevation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations has helped open new cooperation areas including aerospace, biotechnology, automobile industry, and renewable energy; and promoting the establishment of cooperation mechanisms in encryption technology, UN peacekeeping, and trade and investment.

During the dialogue, delegates from the two countries focused their discussion on ways to expand trade, cultural exchange, coordination in regional organisations and forums between Vietnam and India.

India is one of the 10 largest trade partners of Vietnam with two-way trade turnover growing by 20 percent annually, hitting more than 13 billion USD in 2021.

Defence and security cooperation has become an important pillar of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries with specific cooperation plans and programmes.

Traditional cooperation fields such as education-training and agriculture have witnessed substantive development, while the cultural and tourism cooperation, and people-to-people exchange have been also promoted effectively./.