(VOVworld) - Vietnam and India issued a Joint Statement on the official visit to Vietnam on September 2-3 by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During the visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks and witnessed the signing of bilateral documents. Prime Minister Narendra Modi met General Secretary of Vietnam Communist Party Nguyen Phu Trong, President Tran Dai Quang, and Chairwoman of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (R) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi witness the signing of cooperative agreements (photo: VOV)
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Leaders of Vietnam and India shared the view that Vietnam-India relations have been built on a firm foundation, with close links in culture, history and civilization, mutual trust and understanding as well as the strong mutual support in international and regional fora. Based on the current excellent relations, Vietnam and India agreed to elevate the current Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The two Prime Ministers agreed to assign the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs to be the focal points, in collaboration with other ministries and agencies of both sides, to build the Plan of Action to bring the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to reality in all areas of cooperation including politics, defense and security, economics, trading and investment, energy, connectivity, science and technology, training, health, culture, tourism and people-to-people links, regional and international cooperation.
Both sides reiterated their desire and determination to work together to maintain peace, stability, growth and prosperity in Asia and beyond. Noting the Award issued on July 12, 2016 of the Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the Annex VII to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS), both sides reiterated their support for peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and over flight, and unimpeded commerce, based on the principles of international law, as reflected notably in the UNCLOS.
The two Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of cooperative agreements including the Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Exploration and Uses of Outer Space for Peaceful Purposes, Protocol for Amending the Agreement on Avoiding Double Taxation, Program of Cooperation in UN Peacekeeping Matters, Protocol between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam and the Ministry of External Affairs of India on Celebrating 2017 as the “Year of Friendship”, MOU on Health Cooperation, MOU on cooperation in Information Technology, MOU on Cooperation between the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the Indian Council of World Affairs, MOU on cooperation in Cyber Security, MOU between the Bureau of Indian Standards and Directorate for Standard, Metrology and Quality for Cooperation in the Fields of Standardization and Conformity Assessment, MOU on Establishment of the Centre of Excellence in Software Development and Training, Technical Agreement on Sharing of White hipping Information, and Contract for Offshore High-speed Patrol Boats.