General Secretary meets with Speaker of the Indian House of Representatives Meira Kumar

On the morning of November 21, at the Headquarters of the Parliament of the Republic of India, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong met with Speaker of the Indian House of Representatives Meira Kumar.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong meets with Speaker of the Indian House of Representatives Meira Kumar. (Photo: Tri Dung/VNA)

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his pleasure at returning to visit India and meeting the Speaker of the House of Representatives again. The General Secretary conveyed the greetings of National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung to Speaker of the House of Representatives Meira Kumar.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that Vietnam always considers India a trusted, close and loyal friend, and attaches importance to developing the strategic partnership with India; he was pleased to inform Chairwoman Meira Kumar that the purpose of the visit is to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries, emphasizing the achievements of the relationship on five pillars.

The General Secretary informed Chairwoman Meira Kumar of the results of his talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which the two sides agreed on major orientations and measures to expand and deepen the strategic partnership between Vietnam and India on five pillars: Politics; economics, trade, investment; defense-security; education; science-technology.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Meira Kumar congratulated Vietnam on its great achievements in the renovation process; emphasized the traditional and long-standing friendship between India and Vietnam, expressed admiration for legendary leaders Ho Chi Minh and General Vo Nguyen Giap; affirmed that India always attaches importance to its relations with Vietnam, considering Vietnam a pillar in India's Look East policy; and wishes to strengthen relations with Vietnam, thereby strengthening relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Speaker of the House of Representatives Meira Kumar expressed her delight at the increasingly close and effective cooperation between the two countries' parliaments and that Vietnam had participated in training programs of the Indian Parliament. The Indian Parliament supports all efforts to promote the five pillars of the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in defense, security, trade and investment cooperation.

The Chairwoman also expressed her wish to strengthen cooperation in the fields of education and training, tourism and culture; believing that with the agreements reached by the two countries’ senior leaders, cooperation between Vietnam and India in all fields, including politics, national defense and security as well as economics, trade and investment, will develop strongly in the coming time.

Discussing cooperation between the two countries' parliaments, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong highly appreciated the cooperation between the two parliaments in recent times, saying that the Vietnamese National Assembly is in the process of innovating its working methods, therefore attaching great importance to the relationship and learning from the experiences of parliaments of other countries, including India; affirming that the relationship between the two parliaments is an important element in the overall relationship between the two countries and will create all favorable conditions for the two parliaments to cooperate in all aspects.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and President Meira Kumar agreed that the two countries' National Assemblies need to increase sharing of experience in law-making and the operation of National Assembly agencies, coordinate in supervising the implementation of cooperation agreements between the two countries, and promote exchanges between parliamentarians of the two sides, and proposed that the two countries' National Assemblies sign a cooperation agreement.

The two leaders also agreed that the two countries' National Assemblies will continue to cooperate and coordinate closely at multilateral parliamentary forums such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), the Asia-Europe Parliamentary Partnership (ASEP) and the ASEAN People's Forum (APF).

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong respectfully thanked the Indian Parliament for supporting the Vietnamese National Assembly in hosting the 132nd IPU Assembly in Vietnam in 2015.

On the same day, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation visited the Parliament Museum, which displays artifacts about India's democratic heritage. India is a country with a long-standing democracy with religious, social and political harmony, famous for the Vedas and the legends of the House of People (Sabha), where important decisions of the community are made. The Parliament Museum helps visitors better understand the history of India's struggle for freedom.

Here, the General Secretary wrote in his guestbook: “I am very pleased to return to visit the great country of India, the cradle of one of the most glorious civilizations of mankind; the country that has produced outstanding celebrities, famous cultural works... today is rising strongly to achieve new, great achievements in socio-economic development, especially in the field of science and technology; has an important position in the region and in the world.

Wishing the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between Vietnam and India in general and the friendship and cooperation between the two National Assemblies of Vietnam and India in particular to be continuously strengthened and developed”./.

According to VNA