Hanoi (VNA) - Strong trust, mutual understanding and convergence of views mark longstanding India-Vietnam ties, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni told Vietnam News Agency on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties (January 7, 1972 - January 7, 2017).
Q: Can you give us a review of bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and India?
A: The civilisational relationship between India and Vietnam spans over 2000 years, and the advent of Buddhism from India to Vietnam and the remnants of the Hindu Champa civilisation in Vietnam stand testimony to this fact. Our monks, traders and peoples interacted over centuries and intense cultural exchanges have left their imprint on our daily lives and activities. During our respective freedom struggles, the founding fathers of our nations were in close contact, laying the foundation of trust and friendship; a valued relationship that successive generations of leaders have nurtured and built upon during Vietnam’s phase of national reunification and national reconstruction.
In 2017, the two countries are celebrating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of our Strategic Partnership. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vietnam in September 2016, he and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc took the historic step to elevate the relationship to that of ‘Strategic Comprehensive Partnership’, a clear indication of the importance the two countries place on their relationship of long-standing traditional friendship.
The recent years have witnessed a number of visits of leaders from both sides, including at the highest political levels. We enjoy good relations between political parties and legislative institutions and have established bilateral cooperation mechanisms. The relations between the two countries are marked by strong trust, mutual understanding and convergence of views on various international issues and the regional security situation in Asia.
Our leaders have emphasised that enhancing bilateral economic engagement is a strategic objective. Bilateral trade is growing at a healthy pace and is currently around 8 billion USD; our leaders have set a trade target of 15 billion USD by 2020, and both sides are committed to achieving it. India is keen on increasing its investments in Vietnam, which is currently over 1.2 billion USD, and would be tripling in a few years once some large infrastructure investments reach fruition. We would similarly like to invite Vietnamese business and industry to look at India as an attractive investment destination. We have identified priority areas for cooperation: hydrocarbons, power generation, renewable energy, infrastructure, tourism, textiles, footwear, medical services and pharmaceuticals, ICT, electronics, agriculture, agro-products, chemicals, machine tools and other supporting industries.
The relationship between our leadership, peoples, governments, legislatures and political parties is very strong and we remain committed to take it to greater heights
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