"Vietnam is a pillar in India's Look East policy"

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong shakes hands with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee during his visit to India in 2013. (Photo: VNA)

- Sir, the warm relationship between Vietnam and India, established by President Ho Chi Minh and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, has been nurtured by successive generations of leaders and people of the two countries. How do you assess the current relationship between the two countries?

President Mukherjee:India-Vietnam bilateral relations are excellent and have never been better than they are today. The strategic partnership between the two countries was established in 2007 and is now in its eighth year of implementation. In recent years, the bilateral relations have been continuously deepened and expanded in all fields and are marked by mutual trust, understanding and support on many regional and international issues.

The foundation of the Vietnam-India relationship, laid by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh, has grown strongly over the years and brought us to the peak we have today. We greatly admire the indomitable spirit, courage and determination of the Vietnamese people to defeat the enemy.

I am confident that with our goodwill, we can further strengthen the mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries as there is still a huge potential for bilateral cooperation in the future. Moreover, the India-Vietnam Partnership is also beneficial to ASEAN and beyond.

During my upcoming visit to Vietnam, I look forward to strengthening this partnership through talks with President Truong Tan Sang and other Vietnamese leaders.

- Could you please assess the progress in cooperation under the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and India in 2007?

President Mukherjee:In 2007, we decided to upgrade our bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership through close political, defense and security cooperation; economic cooperation; scientific and technological cooperation; cultural and technical cooperation; and regional and multilateral cooperation. We have made great progress in all of these areas since 2007.

Political, defense and security cooperation is one of the major pillars of the relationship between the two countries. We believe that there is still much potential to be exploited in this area and both sides, together with regional partners, are moving towards it.

In economic cooperation, we have made a lot of progress. Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and India has increased about 3.5 times since 2007. We have achieved our trade targets; the prospects for investment cooperation are also bright with more and more Indian companies coming to do business in Vietnam. There is currently great interest among businesses of both countries in future cooperation. I believe that with the efforts of both sides, we can increase trade and investment turnover many times in the coming years.

Although scientific and technological cooperation has made great progress, we believe that there is still much more to be achieved. We have been actively cooperating in agriculture, health, pharmaceuticals and many other areas. We are cooperating in advanced fields such as civil nuclear and space. I believe that these areas will be strengthened in the coming years.

In cultural and technical cooperation, I am pleased to note that Vietnam is one of the largest recipients of support from the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme. We are expanding our educational links through our linkage with the “India Programme.” Our historical and civilizational links are strong and Buddhism has strongly bonded the people of our two countries.

However, the younger generations of both countries still lack information about each other. I understand that both sides are trying to increase cultural and youth exchanges, including film and television exchanges, to bridge this gap. I am also pleased to note that direct flights between the two countries will soon be launched. This will provide a great impetus to enhance cooperation in trade, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

India and Vietnam have common views and strong cooperation at all regional and international forums; there is strong support and mutual understanding.

- How do you evaluate Vietnam's role in ASEAN and in India's "Look East" policy?

President Mukherjee:Vietnam is a very important pillar of our “Look East” policy. Vietnam is a strategic partner of India in ASEAN as well as in the wider region. We appreciate Vietnam’s support for India in international and regional forums.

With ASEAN connectivity gaining momentum, we have promoted regional connectivity, strengthened connectivity initiatives and expanded people-to-people exchanges to enhance our role in the new era. I believe that Vietnam and India are partners contributing to peace, stability and prosperity in the entire region.

- Thank you very much!

According to Vietnam +