Vietnam, India move towards comprehensive strategic partnership

At their talks in Hanoi on September 3 after the official welcome ceremony, the two PMs noted their joy at the extensive and substantive development of bilateral relations, especially since the strategic partnership was set up in 2007.

The upgrade of bilateral ties will meet the aspirations of the two countries’ leaders and peoples in conformity with fundamental and long-term interests, as well as their desire to contribute to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world at large, they said.

The Vietnamese government leader told his guest that his nation values the time-honoured friendship with India, founded by late President Ho Chi Minh and Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru. He also voiced Vietnam's support for India’s “Act East” policy and its greater regional and international role.

The Indian PM in turn congratulated Vietnam on the socio-economic development progress and glowingly spoke of the close-knit relationship between President Ho Chi Minh and PM Nehru.

Vietnam is an important pillar in India’s “Act East” policy and the expansion of India’s relations with ASEAN, he emphasized.

Both sides concurred to step up political and diplomatic cooperation through intensifying visits at all levels and exchanges between their Parties, parliaments and people.

They underscored the need to fully implement existing cooperation mechanisms, including soon holding the meeting of the Inter-Governmental Committee.

They considered security-defence cooperation as one of the important pillars of the comprehensive strategic partnership and pledged to effectively realize the Joint Vision Statement on Vietnam-India Defence Cooperation and deepen collaboration in this field.

The Indian PM thanked the Vietnamese Government for offering favourable conditions for his country’s naval ships to visit Vietnam as a contribution to deepening mutual understanding between the two navies.

The two government leaders hailed the enormous strategic cooperation potential in economics, trade and investment, noting that two-way trade exceeded US$7.8 billion in 2015 and the figure is expected to hit US$15 billion in 2020.

The leaders agreed to direct ministries and relevant sectors to take concrete measures to help businesses work together on the fields of their strengths while reducing trade barriers on import-export products and encouraging bilateral investment.

PM Narendra Modi welcomed Vietnamese enterprises to engage in the “Make in India” initiative to enjoy its preferential treatment. He acknowledged the proposal to reduce trade barriers and entrusted ministries and sectors to work on this issue.

PM Phuc welcomed Indian companies's increased investments in Vietnam and pledged to create the best possible conditions for Indian investors and support them based on Vietnam’s current law.

PM Narendra Modi affirmed that India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will continue to carry out its projects in Vietnam, and hope to get more support to expand cooperation and investment in the country.

During the talks, a score of measures were discussed to foster cooperation in major fields such as energy, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, aerospace science, oil and gas, information technology, and science-technology, along with education, healthcare, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

They underlined the potential and significance of agricultural cooperation and stressed the need to enhance connectivity in aviation, navigation, infrastructure and digital connection.

Host and guest compared notes on regional and international issues of shared concerns and agreed to enhance coordination at regional and global forums, especially of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and related forums.

In regard to the East Sea issue, they reiterated their wish and resolve to work together to maintain peace, stability, security, freedom and safety of overflight and navigation in the East Sea based on the principles of international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS).

They stressed the importance of fully respecting the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and hoped the concerned parties will soon reach a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

The Indian PM displayed his hope that Vietnam and other ASEAN member states will soon reach an agreement to realise the US$1billion credit package that India provides for the regional bloc in digital and infrastructure connectivity.

He used this occasion to invite PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc to visit India at a convenient time and his invitation was accepted with pleasure.

Dates for the visit will be arranged through diplomatic channels.

After the talks, the two PMs witnessed the signing of 12 cooperation agreements between the two nations.