Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh (L) at an interview with Vietnam News Agency correspondent in New Delhi (Photo: VNA) Recalling that links between Vietnamand India in religion, culture and trade have existed for thousands of years, theambassador stressed that bilateral ties have been on the growing trend,especially since the two countries set up their diplomatic ties in 1972 andlifted the relations to a strategic partnership in 2007.
The Vietnam-India relationship isat its highest growth stage ever, with strong political trust as the twocountries share common strategic interests and mutual trust in almost allbilateral and multilateral issues, including the East Sea matter, he said.
The trust has been strengthened inrecent years thanks to the regular exchange of high-ranking delegations of thetwo countries’ parties, State, National Assembly and Government, noted thediplomat. Vietnam’s Party General Secretary, President and Prime Minister havevisited India during recent year, with the latest made in December 2016 of NAChairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
The President and Vice Presidentof India have also made visits to Vietnam, and last September, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s trip to Vietnam resulted in the elevation of bilateral ties to acomprehensive strategic partnership.
Security and defence ties continueto be a highlight of the Vietnam-India relations. During Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit, India pledged a credit package worth 500 million USD forVietnam to modernise defence. The Vietnam visit of Indian Defence Minister ManoharParrikar last June and India visit by Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich inDecember 2016 were important events that helped deepen the defence ties betweenthe two countries, said Ambassador Thanh.
Vietnam and India has also enjoyedgrowing economic and trade cooperation, he said, adding that two-way trade reachedover 5.5 billion USD in 2015, and India has become one of the ten largest tradepartners of Vietnam. The two countries are striving for 15 billion USD in tradein 2020, he stated.
In term of investment, Vietnam hasbecome an attractive destination for Indian investors. As of September 2016, Indiahad 131 projects in Vietnam worth over 700 million USD, becoming the 25th largest foreign investor in the country.
Science-technology partnership hasbeen strengthened, with India now building a remote sensing data reception and processingstation in Vietnam in the framework of the ASEAN-India cooperation.
During the visit of Prime MinisterModi, the two sides also signed seven important deals in science andtechnology, said the diplomat, adding that Indiahas supported Vietnamin human resource training and provided equipment in the field. The twocountries have signed a framework agreement on nuclear energy for peacefulpurpose.
Bilateral cooperation in culture,education and people-to-people relations are flourishing through the exchangesof artists, scholars and students as well as cultural events including filmfestivals and fashion shows.
With all the achievements that thetwo countries have made in developing bilateral ties over the past 45 years andespecially the past decade, Ambassador Thanh expressed strong belief that therelations will continue to thrive in the future, contributing to socio-economicdevelopment and security in each country as well as the enhancement of their positionin the world arena.
Regarding future prospects of theVietnam-India relations, the diplomat held that the two countries should focuson five cooperation pillars as defined in their strategic partnership, namely politics-diplomacy,defence-security, economy-trade, science-technology, and culture-education.
Moreover, bilateral partnershipshould not be limited to the five pillars, but should be expanded to all fieldsincluding affiliation between legislative bodies and Party agencies as well as massorganisations.
The ambassador noted the need to improvethe efficiency of the mechanisms of joint committee and sub-committees fortrade, science-technology and education cooperation, to match the effectiveoperation of other cooperation mechanisms such as strategic dialogue, politicalconsultation and defence dialogue.
At the same time, the two sidesshould also work more closely in multilateral mechanisms, firstly in theASEAN-India partnership, especially when Vietnam is currently the coordinatorof the cooperation.
Mentioning activities planned forthe celebration of the 45th bilateral diplomatic ties and 10-yearstrategic partnership, Ambassador Thanh said that the two sides have agreed toincrease mutual visits at all levels, especially at high level.
Vietnamese and Indian Ambassadorswill appear on television in each country to talk about the bilateral ties,while ministries and agencies of both countries are encouraged to hold tradeand investment events as well as business forums.
A Vietnamese film festival in Indiaand a similar event in Vietnam will be held, along with a photo exhibition onVietnam-India diplomatic relationship in the past 45 years, he said, addingthat major cities of the two countries are scheduled to set up friendship ties.
In January 2017, the VietnameseEmbassy in India will also organise a series of events, including artexhibitions, a film festival and art performances in New Delhi and two otherIndian states, which will mark an exciting start of the Vietnam-Indiafriendship year 2017, said the diplomat.-VNA
VNA
