Vietnam - India Joint Statement

At the invitation of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung and his wife paid an official visit to the Republic of India from October 27 to 28, 2014. During the visit, the two sides issued a Vietnam-India Joint Statement.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

1. At the invitation of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Tan Dung and his wife paid an official visit to the Republic of India from October 27 to 28, 2014.

2. During the visit, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended the official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace (Rashtrapati Bhavan) and laid a wreath at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial at Raj Ghat; met and held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended Prime Minister Modi's State Banquet; met with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, met with Vice President - Chairman of the Senate Shri Hamid Ansari, received Speaker of the House of Representatives Smt. Sumitra Mahajan and Foreign Minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited Bodh Gaya city; received Chief Minister of Bihar Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi. Within the framework of the visit, the Vietnam-India Business Forum was held with the participation of many leading businessmen of the two countries.

3. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the recent developments in the Vietnam-India Strategic Partnership and reaffirmed their commitment to developing the Strategic Partnership comprehensively. They agreed that a strong partnership between India and Vietnam would bring peace, prosperity and stability to the people of the two countries as well as the region. Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed that Vietnam is an important pillar in India's Look East Policy. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung welcomed India to play a greater role in the region and the world.

4. The two Prime Ministers acknowledged the strategic partnership between the two countries based on traditional friendship, solid trust, mutual understanding, mutual support and convergence of views on many regional and international issues. The two Prime Ministers expressed their satisfaction at the success of the State visit to Vietnam in September 2014 by President of India Pranab Mukherjee. The two Prime Ministers also welcomed the success of the visit to Vietnam by Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in August 2014. The two Prime Ministers suggested further strengthening the exchange of delegations at all levels under established dialogue mechanisms and effectively implementing the agreements signed between the two countries.

5. The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the progress made in defence cooperation, including exchanges of delegations, the annual Defence Policy Dialogue, inter-service cooperation, exchange of visiting ships, training, capacity building and cooperation at regional forums, including the Humanitarian Mine Action Programme. The two Prime Ministers called for early implementation of the US$ 100 million Line of Credit extended by India to Vietnam for defence procurement. The two Prime Ministers expressed hope that the currently robust India-Vietnam defence and security cooperation would be further strengthened through regular exchanges of high-level delegations.

6. The two Prime Ministers agreed that strengthening economic cooperation is a strategic objective of the bilateral relationship. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the strong growth in bilateral trade in recent years, especially after the signing of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement on Trade in Goods, and stressed that the signing of the India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement on Services and Investment would promote stronger economic cooperation between India and ASEAN in general and with Viet Nam in particular. The two Prime Ministers directed the relevant agencies of both sides to utilize established mechanisms such as the Joint Sub-Committee on Trade, through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and Business-to-Business (B2B) to further promote trade and investment between the two countries. The two Prime Ministers called for close cooperation towards the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

7. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was accompanied by a large business delegation which held several meetings with leading Indian trade and industrial partners such as the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CII), the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Association of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM). The two Prime Ministers asked business leaders of both countries to explore business opportunities on both sides. Business leaders of both countries identified priority areas for cooperation including gas, electricity, infrastructure, tourism, textiles, footwear, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, information technology, electronics, agriculture, agro-products, chemicals, machine tools and other supporting industries. The two Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction with the steady growth of bilateral trade and investment through effective cooperation between business leaders of both countries. The two sides agreed to take measures to vigorously promote and diversify bilateral trade for mutual benefit, and agreed to achieve the target of US$15 billion in two-way trade by 2020. To this end, the two Prime Ministers called on business leaders and policy makers of the two countries to make effective use of events such as the India-CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Forum.

8. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of investment for economic development and ways to create an environment for greater investment. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung welcomed Indian companies to invest in Vietnam and affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to creating favorable conditions for Indian investors; Prime Minister Modi invited Vietnamese businesses to participate in India’s economic growth promotion program called ‘Make in India’ to benefit from this new initiative. The two Prime Ministers agreed to implement the Customs Cooperation Agreement and the Maritime Transport Agreement between the two countries to facilitate deeper economic cooperation.

9. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Agreement on Oil and Gas Exploration for New Projects in Vietnam between ONGC Videsh Limited and PetroVietnam. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung welcomed Indian oil and gas companies to take advantage of new opportunities to participate in midstream and downstream oil and gas activities in Vietnam.

10. The Prime Ministers of the two countries welcomed the State Bank of Vietnam's approval in principle for the establishment of a branch of the Bank of India in Vietnam.

11. The two Prime Ministers emphasized the importance of connectivity between Vietnam and India and welcomed the signing of the Codeshare Agreement between Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines, under which Jet Airways flights to Ho Chi Minh City will commence from 5 November 2014. They expressed their hope that Vietnam Airlines will soon open a route to India in the near future. They also encouraged airlines of the two countries to promote the opening and operation of flights between Vietnam and India. They also agreed to promote maritime cooperation between the two countries, in the immediate future, establishing and promoting cooperation in shipbuilding.

12. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on Conservation and Restoration of Cham Monuments at My Son by the Archaeological Survey of India; supported the enhancement of tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of Nalanda University as a symbol of the shared Buddhist heritage of India and Viet Nam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for establishing the Centre for Indian Studies at the Ho Chi Minh Academy of Public Administration in Ha Noi; and welcomed the collaboration between the Ho Chi Minh Academy of Public Administration and the Indian Institute of Public Administration. The two Prime Ministers appreciated the convening of the 3rd ASEAN-India Network of Scholars Roundtable in Ha Noi in August 2014.

13. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the cooperation in establishing capacity building research institutes in Vietnam in information technology, English training, enterprise development, high-tech computing and other fields; and called for the early completion of development cooperation projects planned by both sides, including the project to establish an English and Information Technology Training Center at the University of Information and Communications in Nha Trang, a Talent Center for Software Development and Training in Ho Chi Minh City and a Center for Satellite Signal Detection and Image Data Reception in Ho Chi Minh City. The two sides also agreed to continue cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and promote cooperation in the field of outer space, including satellite launches.

14. The two Prime Ministers highly appreciated the cooperation and coordination between the two countries at regional and international forums; agreed to strengthen cooperation, especially at ASEAN, RCEP, ARF, ADMM+, EAS, United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, ASEM and WTO, as well as other regional cooperation mechanisms. The two sides believed that Vietnam's role as the Coordinator for ASEAN-India relations for the period 2015-2018 would promote closer cooperation between the two countries, as ASEAN moves towards achieving the goal of becoming a Community by 2015. The two Prime Ministers also agreed to strengthen Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC). The two Prime Ministers stressed the urgent need to reform the United Nations and expand the Security Council, both permanent and non-permanent, with full representation of developing countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked Vietnam for its consistent support for India’s bid to become a permanent member of the expanded United Nations Security Council. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their mutual support for their respective candidatures for non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, Vietnam for the 2020-2021 term and India for the 2021-2022 term. India also agreed to assist Vietnam in building its capacity to participate in peacekeeping operations.

15. The two Prime Ministers reaffirmed their desire and determination to jointly maintain peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia and the world. They agreed that freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea must not be impeded and called on the parties concerned to exercise self-restraint, not to use or threaten to use force, and to resolve disputes by peaceful means in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The two Prime Ministers welcomed the joint commitment of the parties concerned to adhere to and implement the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), towards the formulation of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) on the basis of consensus. The two Prime Ministers called for enhanced cooperation in the areas of ensuring the security of sea lanes, maritime security, anti-piracy and search and rescue operations.

16. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung witnessed the signing of the following Agreements: (i) Memorandum of Understanding on Nalanda University; (ii) Memorandum of Understanding on Conservation and Restoration of Cham Architecture at My Son, Quang Nam Province; (iii) Memorandum of Understanding on Establishment of English Language and IT Training Centre at the University of Telecommunications in Nha Trang; (iv) Cultural Exchange Programme for the period 2015-2017; (v) Memorandum of Understanding on Radio Cooperation between Voice of Vietnam and Prasar Bharati Radio; (vi) Framework Agreement on Cooperation between OVL and PetroVietnam; (vii) Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between ONGC and PetroVietnam.

17. The talks between the two Prime Ministers took place in a warm, sincere and friendly atmosphere. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the warm welcome given to him and the Vietnamese delegation, and invited Prime Minister Modi to visit Vietnam at a convenient time. Prime Minister Narendra Modi gladly accepted the invitation. The time of the visit will be arranged through diplomatic channels.

New Delhi, October 28, 2014

According to chinhphu.vn