Indian – Vietnam: To strengthen the partnership in all dimensions

TIN LIÊN QUAN
	India helps Quang Nam preserve My Son Sanctuary
	India promotes relations with ASEAN

I would like to thank The World & Vietnam Report for taking the initiative to bring out a special edition of their magazine dedicated to the India-Vietnam bilateral relationship as we celebrate 2017 as the Year of Friendship commemorating the 45th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of our Strategic Partnership. This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the India-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership with Vietnam as the Coordinating Country for the period 2015-18.

Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj.

The 2000-year-old civilizational relationship between India and Vietnam began with exchanges of traders and Buddhist monks. As the Prime Minister aptly noted during the official visit in 2016, Indians came to Vietnam with the message of Buddha - the message of peace and compassion, as compared to many others who came to Vietnam with a message of violence and conflict. It is for this reason that Indians have retained a special place in the hearts of the Vietnamese people.

Our relationship was cemented during our freedom struggle between our leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh. This friendship endured during the phase of Vietnam's national reunification and thereafter during the phase of national reconstruction when India stood by Vietnam as a close friend.

The successful visit of Prime Minister Modi last year, the first bilateral visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 15 years, saw the elevation of our partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership covering important areas of defense and security cooperation, deeper economic engagement, closer cultural cooperation and strong people-to-people linkages.

I have fond memories of my visit to Vietnam in August 2014 when I could see at first hand the tremendous strides in development made by Vietnam in the last two decades that has uplifted millions of Vietnamese citizens out of poverty and put the country on a firm growth path. I could see a reflection of India’s own growth story in Vietnam. I also had an opportunity to  meet  the  leadership, exchange views on our bilateral relations and  the  situation  in  the  region  and the world at large and interact with common people to experience the bonds of friendship that  bind  us. It was truly a memorable experience.

More recently, I had an opportunity to welcome Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister His Excellency Pham Binh Minh in July 2017 when both of us agreed on a Plan of Action to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreed between Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc last year. It is our joint endeavor to strengthen this partnership in all dimensions so that it stands as a factor of stability and an element spurring growth and prosperity in our respective regions and the world at large.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) met with Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in 2017.

Vietnam and India are two countries with a young demography where the overwhelming majority of our citizens are less than 35 years of age. They are aspirational, are eager for transformation and change. Our government is focused on bring about the fundamental economic reforms and policy changes to facilitate ease of doing business, harness innovation and entrepreneurship of the youth, encourage establishment of startups in a variety of sectors, bring about the digital transformation of India so that no citizen is digitally left behind and pursue economic growth while preserving our environment.

Defense cooperation is an important element of our Strategic Partnership. The Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defense Relations for the period 2015-2020 signed by our two Defense Ministers in 2015 provides an important roadmap. My colleague Manohar Parrikar, then Defense Minister paid a fruitful visit to Vietnam, in June 2016. We had the pleasure of hosting H.E. Mr. Ngo Xuan Lich, Defense Minister of Vietnam, in December 2016. The 10th Annual India-Vietnam Security Dialogue at the Secretary level was held in Ha Noi on 1st March 2017. Our Prime Ministers also expressed our commitment to deepen our defense and security engagement to advance our common interests. The contract between the Indian company M/s Larsen & Toubro and Vietnam Border Guards for construction of offshore patrol boats was signed during that visit. Prime Minister Modi also announced a new Defense Line of Credit for Vietnam of 500 million USD for facilitating deeper defense cooperation and a grant of 5 million USD for an Army Software Park at Telecommunications University, Nha Trang.

We have close and substantial dialogue between our armed forces and a long-standing and robust cooperation in human resource development. Indian naval ships have been regularly visiting Vietnam and our navies and coast guards have been cooperating regularly. For the first time the Vietnamese Navy took part in the International Fleet Review that was held in Visakhapatnam, India  in  February 2016.

Our two countries continue to closely coordinate on the different dimensions of security cooperation including traditional and non-traditional security issues, counter-terrorism, combating transnational hi-tech and cybercrimes and enhancing cyber security.

I am happy to note that there have been regular ongoing high-level exchanges between our leaderships. In December last year, we had the special honor of welcoming Chairwoman of the National Assembly of Vietnam, H.E. Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in India. Her visit has contributed in further strengthening parliamentary linkages between our two countries.

My   colleague,   Minister   of   Commerce and   Industry, H.E. Mrs. Nirmala Sitharaman visited Ha Noi in May 2017 leading the Indian delegation to the 3rd Inter-sessional Ministerial Meeting of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), in Hanoi. India, like Vietnam, supports the early completion of RCEP negotiations. Minister of State for External Affairs, H.E. Dr. General V.K. Singh visited Vietnam in April 2017 to kick-off the celebrations for the Year of Friendship and held discussions with the Vietnamese leadership. Both of them were touched by the hospitality extended to them and the warmth and friendship that they experienced.

Enhancing trade and investment is an important strategic objective. Our bilateral trade in 2016-17 according to Indian statistics was slightly over 10 billion USD and both sides are committed to diversify the trade basket and identify new areas to reach the target set by our leaders of 15 billion USD by 2020. Indian investments in Vietnam are around 1.3 billion USD and this is expected to significantly go up once Tata Power's Long Phu-11 1320 MW power station gets underway with a project cost of around 2.2 billion USD. Facilitation by the Vietnamese Government in quick implementation of this project will go a long way in encouraging further Indian investments in Vietnam. Since both our governments are committed to increasing the share of renewable energy in overall power generation, I believe that Indian companies that are active in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors would be happy to explore new opportunities in Vietnam.

Science and Technology is an important area of our cooperation. The MoUs/ Agreements signed during Prime Minister Modi's visit to Vietnam last year on Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes, IT Cooperation, Cyber Security and the Framework Agreement signed in December 2016 on Uses of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes demonstrate the priority placed by our two countries for encouraging this.

We believe that Information Technology is an area with strong growth potential. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Line of Credit of 1 billion USD in 2015 for various initiatives of Physical and Digital Connectivity between India and ASEAN. We look forward to implementing projects in this regard in Vietnam.

Cultural cooperation and outreach is an important area of focus for my government. The opening of the Indian Cultural Centre in Ha Noi and its classes in yoga and other aspects of Indian culture would address a long-felt need. Indian television serials and movies are very popular in Vietnam and I am struck by the popularity of yoga in Vietnam which has resulted in the participation of thousands of Vietnamese in various cities for the International Day of Yoga celebrations in the last three years. Indeed, yoga has emerged as a strong binding cultural element between our two peoples and we look forward to nurturing and further strengthening it. Our experts from the Archaeological Survey of India, in accordance with the MoU on Conservation and Restoration of Cham monuments at My Son, have started the conservation work in Quang Nam province. We are happy to contribute in preserving our joint cultural heritage as Vietnam's Hindu and Buddhist Cham temples stand testimony to the civilizational and cultural bonds between our two countries and peoples.

India has helped Vietnam preserve My Son Sanctuary. (Photo: Mytour.vn)

We are committed to further strengthen cooperation at regional and international fora, especially in the ASEAN which is important to us in terms of history, geography and the economic and strategic space that we share. We believe that ASEAN has a central role in bringing about open and inclusive regional security architecture to bring about greater security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. My Government has placed a new context and vision of our bilateral relationship in the framework of India's 'Look East' and 'Act East' approaches. The ASEAN-India Dialogue Partnership has entered its 25th year and we are commemorating this milestone by proposing to jointly organize many activities including an India-ASEAN Youth Summit, a Car Rally, conferences and seminars etc.

I once again wish The World & Vietnam Report all success and look forward to decades of fruitful friendship and cooperation between our countries and peoples.

Sushma Swaraj

Minister of External Affairs

Republic of India

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