Vietnam-India diplomatic relationship is greatly appreciated
Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs of India Preeti Saran has stressed on the relations between the two countries that India greatly values its relations with Vietnam.
Secretary Preeti Saran said that India greatly values its relations with Vietnam. India and Vietnam share traditionally close relations that have their roots in our freedom struggle led by our founding fathers, Mahatma Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh and which have been nurtured by successive generations of leaders. The friendship and solidarity between our peoples has been steadfast during the period of Vietnam’s national struggle for independence, the heroic effort at national reunification and today’s phase of national reconstruction. Today, we can proudly say that our relations are marked by strong trust, mutual understanding and convergence of views on various international issues and the regional security situation in Asia.
There has been an all round progress made in development cooperation and assistance, political exchanges, defense and security cooperation, human resource development, commercial and economic ties, cultural exchanges and scholarships.
The Official Visit of our Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi to Vietnam during 2-3 September 2016 at the invitation of His Excellency Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam can be seen in this context. This was the first Prime Ministerial visit from India after a gap of fifteen years and a landmark visit where our leaders decided to elevate our relations from Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This is testimony to the importance our respective leaders attach to our bilateral relations.
2017 is indeed a year of many milestones in our relationship with Vietnam and in the evolution of our Took East and Act East Policies. As you know, with the two countries celebrating the 45th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th Anniversary of our Strategic Partnership, 2017 has been declared the “Year of Friendship” and under this we hope to celebrate all aspects of our relations by organizing cultural activities, seminars, conferences, workshops, food festivals, exhibitions and road shows, etc.
A series of agreements have been signed ever since in the area of healthcare, mutual recognition of standards, finance, information technology and space cooperation that have created good frameworks for enhancing economic cooperation.
Tariff and non-tariff barriers, including some technical barriers to trade, remain significant impediments to development of bilateral trade and they are being addressed by both sides. India and Vietnam have agreed to facilitate trade flows between the two countries by minimizing the application of trade barriers, and step by step removal/abolishment of trade barriers in accordance with the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN and India. While India has already lowered or eliminated tariffs on many commodities under the India-ASEAN FTA in goods, Vietnam has two years before such tariff reduction/elimination takes place. We believe that bilateral trade will receive a strong boost when tariffs for many commodities are eliminated or significantly reduced under this agreement.
In garment and textile, India and Vietnam share complementary strengths. Vietnam is strong in spinning and garments and is trying to diversify the sources of imports of fabrics, fibers, yarns and other accessories; India is a potential market to source these inputs.
Science and Technology cooperation is a very important sector. Our governments are closely collaborating to realise the peaceful uses of space and atomic energy technology and both sides have signed agreements in this regard during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Vietnam in September 2016 and visit of Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan to India last month. We are also keen to promote greater interaction between our companies in information technology and software services, design and engineering services and in research and development.
Secretary Preeti Saran stressed that India's position on the East Sea has been consistent. As can be seen in the Joint Statement issued during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Vietnam in September 2016, we reiterate our desire and determination to work together with Vietnam to maintain peace, stability, growth and prosperity in Asia and beyond. Noting the Award issued on 12 July 2016 of the Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the Annex VII to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS), we reiterate our support for peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and over flight, and unimpeded commerce, based on the principles of international law, as reflected notably in the UNCLOS.
The two countries entered into a strategic partnership in 2007, and ever since, Vietnam and India have expanded cooperation in the five pillars of politics, national defence – security, economics, science-technology and culture-education.
The two nations’ leaders elevated the strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vietnam in 2016. The ambassador highlighted that India is one of the 10 biggest trade partners of Vietnam, with bilateral trade value reaching 5.5 billion USD in 2016. The figure is expected to reach 15 billion USD by 2020. The country has invested in 130 projects in Vietnam, worth a total of 700 million USD.
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