Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese DeputyMinister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung and Secretary of the Ministry ofExternal Affairs of India Riva Ganguly Das co-chaired the 11th political consultation and the eighth strategic dialogue between the twoforeign ministries via videoconference on November 12.
During both meetings, the two sides engaged in open and straigh-forward discussions on bilateral cooperation in various fields as well as regional and global issues ofshared concern.
They shared the view that the Vietnam-India bilateral strategic partnership isgrowing in various areas, especially in politics, national defence-security,economy and trade.
Deputy Minister Dung suggested India work with Vietnam to promote high-level visits and hold meaningful activities to raise the two peoples’ awareness of Vietnam-India relationshipon the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic tiesnext year.
The Indian side highlighted the long-standing and close cultural ties between the two nations. She expressed satisfactionabout two-way trade that reached nearly 11 billion USD in the first ten months of thisyear.
Both sides agreed to reinforce bilateral ties in energy, health care, agriculture, culture, economy, trade and investment,as well as in promising fields such as information technology, renewable energy,hi-tech agriculture and innovation.
The Vietnamese official thanked India for providingmedical assistance for Vietnam to fight the pandemic, He proposed India continue helping Vietnam with COVID-19 vaccines and medicines in the near future.
The two sides pledged to strengthen mutual supportand coordination at regional and global forums, especially theUnited Nations and the ASEAN-India framework.
The Indian side affirmed appreciation of Mekong-Gangacooperation and expressed readiness to consider launching a trilateral cooperationmodel involving India, Vietnam and a development partner.
The two sides affirmed the importance of maintainingpeace, stability, security, and maritime and aviation safety and freedom, as wellas addressing disputes by peaceful means in line with international law,especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea./.
