India spends $100 million on defense cooperation with Vietnam

Considering defense and security cooperation as an important pillar of the strategic partnership with Vietnam, India has allocated 100 million USD to Vietnam in "new cooperation opportunities".

The above content was mentioned during the talks between President Truong Tan Sang and Indian President Pranab Mukherjee on the morning of September 15 in Hanoi. The Indian President is on a State visit to Vietnam.

President Truong Tan Sang and Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. Photo: Reuters

At the talks, the President affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to and wishes to continuously develop the strategic partnership with India.

President Pranab Mukherjee affirmed that Vietnam is an important pillar in India's Look East policy and in developing India's relations with ASEAN.

During the visit, President Pranab Mukherjee presented President Truong Tan Sang with a Bodhi tree originating from Bodh Gaya. This Bodhi tree, a symbol of the shared Buddhist heritage between the two countries, was planted by President Truong Tan Sang and President Pranab Mukherjee at the Presidential Palace.

Vietnam and India agreed to strengthen their strategic partnership with a focus on political, defense, security, economic, scientific and technological, oil and gas, cultural, people-to-people ties, and regional and multilateral cooperation.

The two leaders agreed that defense and security cooperation is an important pillar of the strategic partnership between the two countries; expressed satisfaction with the current cooperation in this field as well as the signing of a memorandum of understanding on a credit line worth 100 million USD that India has provided to Vietnam, which will open up new opportunities for cooperation.

The two sides agreed to strive to increase trade turnover to 7 billion USD by 2015 and 15 billion USD by 2020.

Indian airline Jet Airways will cooperate with Vietnam Airlines to open a direct flight route between India and Vietnam, expected in November 2014.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Indian President Pranab Mukherjee. Photo: VGP

According to the Joint Communiqué of the visit, India announced that it would award 20 scholarships to Vietnamese students to study for one semester at an Indian university under the new “Connect with India” program.

President Pranab Mukherjee thanked the Vietnamese Government for supporting the organization of Indian Festivals in Vietnam, including the Buddhist Festival.

President Truong Tan Sang and President Pranab Mukherjee agreed that the two countries will continue to maintain good cooperation at regional and international forums, including ASEAN-India cooperation, the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC), the Non-Aligned Movement, South-South cooperation, and at the United Nations.

The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to supporting each other's candidacy for non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council (Vietnam for the 2020-2021 term and India for the 2021-2022 term), emphasizing the need for UN reform and expansion of the Security Council in terms of the number of permanent and non-permanent members.

President Truong Tan Sang and President Pranab Mukherjee also agreed on the importance of ensuring security, safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea, resolving disputes in the region by peaceful means, complying with international law, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon completing negotiations on the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

In the Joint Communique, the two sides reiterated their desire and determination to work together to maintain peace, stability, growth and prosperity in Asia.

“Vietnam and India agreed that freedom of navigation in the East Sea should not be impeded and called on the parties concerned to exercise self-restraint, avoid the threat or use of force and resolve disputes through peaceful means in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” the statement said.

The two sides welcomed the joint commitment of relevant parties to comply with and implement the DOC and cooperate towards the adoption of the COC on the basis of consensus, calling for cooperation in ensuring security of sea lanes, maritime security, combating piracy and conducting search and rescue operations.

Also on the same day, the Indian President met with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung.

According to Vietnamnet