Illustrative image (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam and India on September 15 issued a joint communique on the occasion of a State visit to Vietnam by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee from September 14-17.

Following is the full text of the joint communique.

1. The President of the Republic of India, H.E. Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, is on a State visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam from September 14-17, 2014 at the invitation of H.E. Mr. Truong Tan Sang, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

2. President Pranab Mukherjee was accorded a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi on September 15, 2014. President Pranab Mukherjee held bilateral talks with President Truong Tan Sang on September 15, 2014, who also hosted a state banquet. President Pranab Mukherjee met H.E. Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of Vietnam Communist Party, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung, Prime Minister of Vietnam, and H.E. Mr. Nguyen Sinh Hung, Chairman of the National Assembly of Vietnam. President Pranab Mukherjee visited the Ho Chi Minh’s Residential Complex and laid wreath at the Memorial of National Heroes and Martyrs. The Presidents jointly inaugurated the Center for Indian Studies at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration. President Pranab Mukherjee will visit Ho Chi Minh City from September 16-17, 2014 and meet with H.E. Mr. Le Thanh Hai, Secretary of the Communist Party of Ho Chi Minh City and H.E. Mr. Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.

3. A sapling of the Holy Bodhi Tree from Bodh Gaya was gifted by President Pranab Mukherjee to President Truong Tan Sang. This sapling, a symbol of shared Buddhist heritage between the two countries, was jointly planted by the Presidents in the Presidential Palace. President Truong Tan Sang expressed gratitude to President Pranab Mukherjee for this gesture.

4. The official talks between the leaders were held in an atmosphere of friendship and mutual trust. President Truong Tan Sang and President Pranab Mukherjee exchanged views on the socio-economic developments and foreign policy of their respective countries, bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest. President Pranab Mukherjee congratulated the Government and people of Vietnam on the remarkable achievements recorded in recent years. President Truong Tan Sang saluted India on the successful completion of the 16th Lok Sabha elections and expressed his belief that under the leadership of the new Government in India, the people of India will attain greater achievements in national development.

5. The leaders expressed happiness with the development of traditional friendship between India and Vietnam and expressed satisfaction with the progress made in various fields of engagement, particularly since the establishment of the Strategic Partnership in 2007. India reaffirmed that it regards Vietnam as an important pillar in its Look East Policy. Vietnam reiterated support for India’s Look East Policy and for an increasingly important role played by India at regional and international fora.

6. The leaders reiterated the importance of the high-level visits between the two countries, including the State visit by H.E. Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of Vietnam Communist Party to India in November 2013. They expressed satisfaction at the successful visit of H.E. Smt. Sushma Swaraj, External Affairs Minister of India to Vietnam in August 2014. They welcomed the discussions at the ministerial level and reiterated that regular consultations at official level had helped consolidate and expand bilateral ties. They agreed to promote frequent exchanges at all levels including Government to Government, Party to Party, business to business and people-to-people with a view to intensifying cooperation in diverse areas.

7. The leaders agreed to strengthen and deepen bilateral cooperation on the basis of the Strategic Partnership with focus on political, defence and security cooperation, economic cooperation, science and technology, culture and people-to-people links, technical cooperation and multilateral and regional cooperation. They agreed to continue closer interaction under the institutional architecture of the Strategic Partnership, particularly the Joint Commission Meeting, the Foreign Office Consultations and Strategic Dialogue, Security Dialogue and other dialogue mechanisms between the two countries. The leaders emphasized effective implementation of the agreements in order to broaden and deepen bilateral cooperation.

8. The leaders agreed that defence and security cooperation was an important pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries. They expressed satisfaction with the ongoing cooperation between the two sides in this field and noted that the signing of the MoU for the Line of Credit of 100 million USD extended by India to Vietnam would open new avenues for cooperation.

9. The leaders agreed to enhance the economic partnership and strengthen the trade and investment linkages between the public and private sectors of both countries, including forging joint ventures. They welcomed the strong growth in bilateral trade in recent years and urged business to further expand and diversify trade to achieve the bilateral trade target of 15 billion USD by 2020.They identified tourism, garments and textiles, pharmaceuticals and agriculture as important areas of potential growth in bilateral trade.

10. The leaders highlighted scope for expansion in ICT, science and technology, space and other areas. President Truong Tan Sang thanked President Pranab Mukherjee for assistance in various capacity building projects undertaken by the Government of India in Vietnam. India offered 20 slots under the new scheme “India Connect” for Vietnamese students to attend a semester in an Indian university.

11. President Pranab Mukherjee thanked the Vietnamese Government for the support extended in organizing the Festival of India in Vietnam including the Buddhist Festival. They agreed that cultural exchanges raised awareness among the people of both countries about the civilisational linkages between India and Vietnam, promoted people-to-people links and provided scope for future collaboration in new areas including libraries, archives and museums. They recognised that exchange of film and television content was also an important medium for promoting awareness and instructed officials on both sides to work out modalities for implementation.

12. The leaders exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest. They valued the cooperation and coordination between the two countries at regional and international fora, and agreed to expand cooperation particularly in ASEAN, ARF, ADMM Plus, EAS, United Nations and Non-Aligned Movement while striving for peace, stability and prosperity in the region and beyond. Both sides stressed the need for urgent reform of the United Nations (UN) and expansion of the UN Security Council (UNSC) in both the permanent and the non-permanent categories of membership. India expressed gratitude for Vietnam’s consistent support to India’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed and expanded UNSC. They further reaffirmed support for each other’s candidature for non-permanent membership of the UNSC, Vietnam for the term 2020-2021 and India for the term 2021-2022.

13. The leaders reiterated their desire and determination to work together to maintain peace, stability, growth and prosperity in Asia. They agreed that freedom of navigation in the East Sea/South China Sea should not be impeded and called the parties concerned to exercise restraint, avoid threat or use of force and resolve disputes through peaceful means in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the UNCLOS-1982. They also welcomed the collective commitment of the concerned parties to abide by and implement the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and to work towards the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea on the basis of consensus. They called for cooperation in ensuring security of sea-lanes, maritime security, combating piracy and conducting search and rescue operations.

14. The leaders expressed satisfaction over the results of this visit, and shared the view that the visit had contributed significantly to strengthening the bonds of friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries.

15. The following Agreements were signed in the presence of the Presidents: (i) Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Government of the Republic of India on co-operation and mutual assistance in customs matters; (ii) Dollar Credit Line Agreement between the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and EXIM Bank of India; (iii) MOU between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture of India on animal health; (iv) MOU between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development of Vietnam and the Ministry of Agriculture of India on cooperation in the field of setting up of Pangasius breeding and farming in India; (v) Letter of Intent between Vietnam Oil and Gas Group and ONGC Videsh Limited; (vi) MOU on operating and jointly promoting direct air services between Vietnam Airlines (Vietnam) and Jet Airways (India); (vii) MOU on cooperation in Youth Affairs between the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Vietnam and the Ministry of Skill development, Entrerpeneuship, Youth Affairs and Sports of India.

16. Recalling the successful visit of President Truong Tan Sang to India in 2011, President Pranab Mukherjee extended an invitation to the President of Vietnam to visit India again. President Truong Tan Sang accepted the invitation with pleasure. The schedule of the visit would be arranged through diplomatic channels.

17. President Pranab Mukherjee expressed deep gratitude to President Truong Tan Sang for the warm welcome and excellent reception extended to him and the Indian delegation during his State visit to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

(Source: vietnam +)