(VOVWORLD) - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh began a State visit to India on Wednesday at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This marks Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's first visit as Head of Government and the first official visit by a Vietnamese Prime Minister to India in a decade. The 2-day visit is of significant importance, aiming to deepen relations between the two countries across all fields.
 Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pays a State visit to India from July 31 to August 1 (Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac) |
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is one of the first foreign leaders invited to visit India following the recent election of the Lower House and government in June. His visit comes at a time when the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is progressing, underpinned by a strong foundation and high political trust.
Positive developments in Vietnam-India relations
Vietnam and India share a long-standing friendship, nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh and Indian leaders Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru and successive generations of leaders and people from both countries. In 2016, the two nations established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework. Prime Minister Chinh’s visit marks the first bilateral activity of the two Prime Ministers since the new relationship framework was established.
Since 2016, the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has grown steadily. The relationship between the two Parties, States, National Assemblies, and peoples has expanded, with regular visits and contacts at all levels through various channels and dialogue mechanisms. Defense and security cooperation is a key strategic pillar, highlighted by the signing of a Joint Vision Statement on defense partnership and a Memorandum of Understanding on mutual logistics support in June 2022. Bilateral cooperation in science and technology, information and communication, education and training, culture, and tourism is also growing.
 Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Thanh Binh (Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs) |
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Thanh Binh said: “Two-way trade turnover has increased 2.5 fold since the two countries upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016, reaching nearly USD 15 billion in 2023. Both countries see significant potential in trade and investment cooperation, given India's status as the world's most populous market and its dynamic economic development. Large Indian corporations are enhancing cooperation with Vietnam in strategic fields such as renewable energy, processing, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, seaport infrastructure, and logistics. On the Vietnamese side, Vinfast Group has started constructing an automobile assembly and production factory in Tamil Nadu state, with a committed capital of USD 2 billion.”
The two countries are also promoting cooperation in new fields, including renewable energy, semiconductor chips, the green economy, digital transformation, information technology, smart agriculture, and pharmaceuticals. They have closely coordinated and supported each other at multilateral forums, especially within the United Nations framework and at ASEAN-led regional forums.
Professor Srikanth Kondapalli, an East Asia researcher at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, praised the two countries' growing cooperation saying: "Today, cooperation has been institutionalized, meaning we now have more comprehensive cooperation and dialogue. If there is a problem, the two sides will establish mechanisms to review, evaluate, and discuss what needs to be done to resolve the issue"
Deepening the Vietnam-India relationship in all fields
During his visit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh will hold talks and meetings with senior Indian leaders, attend forums and discussions with businesses from both countries, meet with India's leading corporations, and make policy statements.
The two sides will discuss and set directions to make the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership stronger, more substantive, and more effective in trade, investment, renewable energy, processing, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, logistics, aviation, the automobile industry, science, technology, information, telecommunications, digital technology, education, training, culture, tourism, people-to-people exchanges, and agriculture.
Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Thanh Binh said: "The visit, meticulously prepared by both sides, focuses on deepening the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership across all fields, adapted to the current geopolitical and economic landscape. This involves consolidating traditional areas of cooperation while expanding into sectors where both countries have potential and strengths, such as electronics, telecommunications, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, the green economy, the digital economy, AI, semiconductors, new materials, and essential minerals. The visit also provides an opportunity for the two countries to increase their sharing on security and strategic issues regionally and globally, and to affirm mutual support in multilateral forums of mutual interest.”
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s State visit to India is of great importance. It aims to affirm Vietnam's consistent policy of valuing its traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with India, contributing to the strengthening of relations between the leaders of the two countries, especially between the two Prime Ministers. The visit also aims to bolster political trust, deepen multifaceted cooperation, and make the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership more effective across political, diplomatic, security, defense, economic, trade, and investment spheres.