Full text of Vietnam - India Joint Statement

We respectfully introduce the Full Text of the Joint Statement between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of India on the State visit to India by President Tran Dai Quang.

The full text of the Statement is as follows:

1.At the invitation of President of India Ram Nath Kovind, President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Tran Dai Quang and his wife paid a State visit to the Republic of India from March 2 to 4, 2018. Accompanying the President was a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh, leaders of many ministries, sectors, localities and business delegations.

2.During the visit, President Tran Dai Quang attended the official welcoming ceremony and inspected the Guard of Honour with the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan; laid wreaths at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial; held talks and attended a reception hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi; received Speaker of the Lok Sabha Smt. Sumitra Mahajan; Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and leaders of political parties and Vietnam-India friendship associations. President Tran Dai Quang also attended the Vietnam-India Business Forum and met with a number of leading Indian businessmen. Earlier, President Tran Dai Quang visited Bihar state.

3.The talks between Vietnam and India took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere, reflecting the extensive development and enhanced commitments in many aspects between the two countries since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Vietnam in 2016 and the upgrading of relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. After the talks, President Tran Dai Quang and Prime Minister Narendra Modi witnessed the exchange of cooperation documents on atomic energy, trade, agriculture and fisheries, etc. signed during the visit.

4.President Tran Dai Quang congratulated and highly appreciated India for its achievements in socio-economic development, science and technology and improving people's lives in recent times; expressed his belief that India will increasingly have a greater role and position in the region and in the international arena. President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Vietnam on its important achievements in socio-economic development and foreign affairs; believed that Vietnam will soon achieve the goal of becoming a developed industrial country, with an increasingly higher role and position in the region and the world.

5.The two sides emphasized the long-standing traditional friendship between Vietnam and India, which was founded by the Fathers of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi and President Ho Chi Minh, and has been nurtured by generations of leaders and people of the two countries. The two sides expressed satisfaction with the positive development of the traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and welcomed the organization of many meaningful and practical activities during the 2017 Friendship Year to celebrate the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Strategic Partnership. President Tran Dai Quang welcomed the organization of “Vietnam Days in India” during the visit to successfully conclude the Friendship Year.

6.On the basis of the existing good bilateral relations, the two sides agreed to maintain regular high-level visits and all-level exchanges through the Party, Government, Legislative, local and people-to-people channels; and to soon organize the next meeting of the Joint Committee at the Foreign Minister level in 2018 to review cooperation areas and propose specific measures to implement the Action Program for the 2017-2020 period.

DEFENSE AND SECURITY

7.The two sides agreed that defense and security cooperation is an important and effective pillar of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and expressed satisfaction with the results achieved in this field. The two sides welcomed the exchange of high-level defense and security delegations, maintained dialogue mechanisms, enhanced cooperation between military services and branches, and promoted cooperation in the fields of cyber security, counter-terrorism and violent extremism in all forms, transnational crime, human trafficking, drug trafficking, maritime security, climate change and food security.

8.The two sides reiterated their commitment to an open, free, secure, stable, peaceful and accessible cyberspace under the auspices of the United Nations and agreed to enhance cooperation and effectively implement the agreements signed between the two countries on cyber security. The two sides agreed to implement the Cooperation Agreement between the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and the National Security Council of India and initiate a Deputy Ministerial-level dialogue to enhance cooperation in traditional and non-traditional security issues, as well as implement training and capacity building programmes.

9.India affirmed its readiness to cooperate with Vietnam in defense cooperation and capacity building training for Vietnam. The two sides agreed to accelerate the implementation of a $100 million credit package to build high-speed patrol boats for the Vietnam Border Guard and promote the early signing of a framework agreement on the use of a $500 million credit package for the defense industry. The two sides agreed to strengthen defense cooperation, including exchanges of high-ranking defense delegations, dialogues, cooperation between military services, visits of Navy and Coast Guard ships, capacity building projects, equipment procurement, technology transfer and cooperation in regional forums such as ADMM+.

10.The two sides agreed on the need to enhance maritime cooperation, including anti-piracy, ensuring security of sea lanes, and exchange of non-military maritime information. In the spirit of the proposal to establish an ASEAN-India Strategic Dialogue on Maritime Cooperation made at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi in January 2018, the two sides agreed to promote bilateral consultations on maritime issues.

11.The two sides condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism. Vietnam shared India’s concern that terrorism is the most serious threat to global peace, security and stability. The two sides held that terrorism cannot be justified on any grounds and should not and must not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnicity. The two sides called on all parties to promote a comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism, including countering extremism, recruitment, training and movement of foreign terrorists across borders, blocking sources of financing terrorism, such as through criminal organizations, money laundering, smuggling of weapons of mass destruction, drug trafficking and other criminal activities, dismantling terrorist bases and safe havens, and preventing the exploitation of the internet, cyberspace, including social networks and other communication tools by terrorist organizations and groups. The two sides also agreed to cooperate to build broad consensus on the early adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT).

ECONOMIC RELATIONS

12.The two sides agreed that strengthening strong economic and trade relations is a strategic goal, a core element of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and necessary for strengthening bilateral relations in general. The two leaders expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the rapid growth of bilateral trade turnover over the past two years. With the aim of promoting all potentials to increase trade turnover in both value and diversification of goods, the two sides agreed to assign relevant agencies of the two countries to seek specific and practical measures to achieve the trade turnover target of 15 billion USD by 2020; including but not limited to measures such as: effectively using established bilateral cooperation mechanisms, increasing delegation exchanges, contacts between enterprises, sharing information, limiting the application of trade defense measures and non-tariff barriers to each other's export goods, and regularly organizing fairs and exhibitions in each country. The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the Joint Trade Subcommittee in Hanoi as early as 2018.

13.The two leaders suggested that businesses from both sides seek new investment and business opportunities in priority areas of cooperation such as: gas, electricity, energy, renewable energy and energy conservation, infrastructure, textiles, footwear, pharmaceuticals, machine tools, agriculture and agricultural products, tourism, chemicals, information technology and other service industries. The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation and knowledge exchange on increasing agricultural productivity, applying high-tech agriculture and exchanging practices on farming and agricultural techniques.

14.The two sides encouraged increased two-way investment between Vietnam and India. Prime Minister Modi welcomed Vietnamese companies to take advantage of the favourable investment conditions in India under the Make in India initiative. President Tran Dai Quang welcomed Indian investment in Vietnam and affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to creating favourable conditions for Indian investors in accordance with Vietnamese laws; and appreciated Prime Minister Modi’s efforts to improve India’s ease of doing business ranking.

DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

15.President Tran Dai Quang appreciated India's continued provision of official development assistance (ODA) and preferential credit packages; thanked India for providing many scholarships to Vietnamese students, researchers, experts and officials, especially through the International Technical Cooperation (ITEC) program, the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and the Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) Fund. Prime Minister Modi proposed that India provide tailor-made training courses for Vietnam in areas of interest to Vietnam through the ITEC program. President Tran Dai Quang appreciated Prime Minister Modi's announcement of a pilot project on rural connectivity in CLMV countries, which will build Digital Villages and provide 1,000 PhD scholarships for students and researchers from ASEAN countries at Indian Institutes of Technology.

ENERGY COOPERATION

16.The two sides agreed that cooperation in oil and gas exploration, hydropower, thermal power, renewable energy and energy conservation is developing strongly. President Tran Dai Quang welcomed Indian enterprises to expand their oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities on land and in Vietnam's continental shelf and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and suggested that Indian enterprises actively study and soon make proposals for the oil and gas blocks introduced by Vietnam. The two sides agreed to actively implement the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in oil and gas exploration in third countries. The Vietnamese side supports Indian oil and gas companies in seeking cooperation opportunities in the midstream and downstream oil and gas sectors in Vietnam.

17.President Tran Dai Quang welcomed Indian businesses to invest in renewable energy and energy-saving projects in Vietnam and thanked India for its proposal to support Vietnam in building a nuclear energy research center for peaceful purposes.

18.Vietnam took note of India's proposal to actively consider signing the Framework Agreement on the Solar Alliance to enhance cooperation in the field of renewable energy.

CULTURE, EDUCATION AND PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGE

19.The two sides agreed to enhance exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges; expand and deepen the historical and cultural ties between the two countries through cooperation in archaeology, conservation and museums to restore and reconnect the historical and civilized cultural heritages of the two countries. India highly appreciated the proposal to open a Vietnam Cultural Center in India.

20.The two leaders highly appreciated the effective implementation of the World Cultural Heritage Conservation and Restoration Project - My Son Sanctuary, in Quang Nam, Vietnam. The Vietnamese side welcomed India's provision of a credit package to restore and restore Hoa Lai Tower and Po Klong Garai Cham Tower and non-refundable aid to the Cham community in Ninh Thuan province, as well as the Government of India and the Bhagwan Mahaveer ViklangSahayata Samiti (BMVSS) charity organization providing rehabilitation services and "Gia-pua prosthetic legs" to about 500 patients in Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc and some other localities.

CONNECT

21.The two sides agreed on the importance of enhancing connectivity between Vietnam and India as well as ASEAN and India. The Indian side suggested that Vietnam take advantage of India’s initiatives for CLMV countries, including the US$1 billion line of credit for infrastructure and digital connectivity projects. The two leaders also noted progress in regional connectivity such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and agreed to consider the possibility of extending this trilateral highway to Vietnam via Laos and Cambodia.

22.The two sides stressed the importance of early signing of the ASEAN-India Maritime Transport Cooperation Agreement; expressed their desire to accelerate the establishment of direct shipping routes between Indian and Vietnamese seaports. The two sides welcomed the announcement of the direct flight route between New Delhi and Ho Chi Minh City during the visit and urged airlines of the two countries to soon open more direct flights between major cities of the two countries.

REGIONAL COOPERATION

23.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Tran Dai Quang shared common views on many bilateral and international issues, including the security situation in Asia. The two leaders stressed the importance of building a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, in which sovereignty and international law, freedom of navigation and overflight, sustainable development, and a free, fair and open trade and investment system are respected.

24.The two Leaders stressed that India and Vietnam play an important role in safeguarding and strengthening an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture and in further enhancing cooperation with ASEAN. The two Leaders expressed satisfaction at the success of the ASEAN-India Summit held in January 2018, with great contributions from Vietnam in its capacity as the Coordinator for the 2015-2018 period; agreed to take necessary steps to implement the commitments in the Delhi Declaration adopted at the Summit, contributing to further strengthening the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.

President Tran Dai Quang appreciated India's support for ASEAN's central role in the evolving regional architecture, ASEAN's contributions to regional peace, security and prosperity, as well as ASEAN's integration and community building process.

25.Highlighting the role of sub-regional cooperation mechanisms in enhancing bilateral cooperation as well as complementing other regional cooperation frameworks of ASEAN, the two Leaders agreed to promote and effectively utilize existing sub-regional cooperation frameworks, especially the Mekong-Ganga Economic Corridor.

MULTILATERAL COOPERATION

26.The two sides highly appreciated their coordination at regional and international forums and agreed to continue this tradition; reaffirmed mutual support for each other's candidacy for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, Vietnam for the 2020-2021 term, India for the 2021-2022 term. Vietnam reiterated its consistent support for India to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council when this body is reformed.

27.The two sides reaffirmed their determination and efforts to cooperate in maintaining peace, stability and development in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world. They stressed the importance and necessity of absolute compliance with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), including the implementation of international legal obligations in good faith, maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea, fully respecting diplomatic and legal processes, resolving disputes by peaceful means, not using or threatening to use force, in accordance with international law. In that spirit, the two sides support the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and moving towards the early completion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

28.The two Leaders welcomed the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and underscored their commitment to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. They agreed that the Global Partnership remains key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. In this regard, they reiterated the Addis Ababa Agenda and the importance of implementing Official Development Assistance commitments from developed countries.

29.President Tran Dai Quang thanked President Kovind and the friendly people of India for their warm welcome and cordially invited President Kovind to visit Vietnam soon. President Kovind gladly accepted the invitation and agreed that the timing of the visit would be arranged through diplomatic channels./.