Vietnam supports India's oil and gas exploration in the East Sea

On the afternoon of September 15, at the Party Central Committee Headquarters, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong warmly received Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, President of the Republic of India, who is on a state visit to Vietnam.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong receives Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a state visit to Vietnam. Photo: VNA

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong warmly welcomed President Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Vietnam; highly appreciated the important significance of the visit, showing that the President and the new Government in India continue to attach importance to the traditional friendship and strategic partnership with Vietnam; and believed that the President's visit will be an important milestone, contributing to further promoting the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries to new heights.

The General Secretary congratulated India on its great achievements in recent times, especially the success of the general election last May; expressed his joy and appreciation for the development of cooperative relations between the two countries; expressed his wish that the two sides continue to expand and strengthen cooperation in all fields: politics, economics, culture, education, science and technology, people-to-people exchange; and strengthen coordination and mutual support at multilateral, international and regional forums.

The General Secretary called on India to continue supporting and sharing Vietnam's stance on regional and international issues, including the settlement of disputes in the East Sea by peaceful means, on the basis of international law, including the United Nations Charter, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, fully implementing the DOC, and soon completing the construction of the COC; affirming that Vietnam supports India's oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities in the East Sea.

The General Secretary suggested that the two governments, ministries and localities of the two countries actively implement the concretization of the strategic partnership between the two countries in all fields, especially in economic cooperation, trade, national defense and security, science and technology and education and training, including the early implementation of direct flights between the two countries.

President Pranab Mukherjee expressed his pleasure at his first official visit to Vietnam; thanked the General Secretary and leaders of Vietnam for their good feelings towards the President and the delegation; said that the foundation of the relationship between Vietnam and India, built by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh, has been developing strongly; in recent years, cooperation between the two countries has continued to develop deeply and extensively in all fields, with trust, understanding and mutual support in many regional and international issues.

The President affirmed that Vietnam is India's strategic partner in ASEAN as well as in the wider region; affirmed that Vietnam plays a pivotal role in India's "Look East" policy; highly appreciated Vietnam's support for India in international and regional forums; emphasized that the two sides established a strategic partnership in 2007 and have entered the eighth year of implementation, having achieved great progress in all fields; believed that the two sides could further promote mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries because there is still great potential for bilateral cooperation in the future.

According to Vietnam+