At a working session with the Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan on March 28, Mr Deshmukh said Vietnam is India’s important partner and the time-honoured friendship fostered by President Ho Chi Minh and Indian Prime Minister Jawarharlal Nehru 50 years ago have grown ever stronger.

Vietnam-India cooperation in science and technology should focus on industry, agriculture, response to climate change and basic research, the Indian Minister said.

Deputy PM Nhan spoke of Vietnam’s national information and technology (IT) development strategy to become a strong IT nation by 2020 and wished that Vietnam and India would increase cooperation in the field with priority given to nano technology, bio-technology and oceanography.

Vietnam has chosen India’s IT city of Bangalore as a partner in training IT human resources, Mr Nhan added.

In a visit to the University of Dehli, India’s most famous university founded in 1924 with 400,000 students, Deputy PM Nhan and his delegation were briefed on the university’s achievements as well as its cooperation programme with Vietnam.

On March 29, Mr Nhan and his entourage held talks with Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal. Both sides signed 9 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on cooperation in applying biotechnology in agriculture, conducting nano technology research and promoting Indian and Vietnamese studies.

Earlier, the delegation laid wreaths at a monument to Indian great leader Mahartma Gandi, visited the Vietnamese Embassy, and talked with Vietnamese residents, Buddhist followers and students in India.