Third Vietnam-India dialogue obtains positive results

(VOV) - The sixth political consultation and third strategic dialogue between Vietnam and India held in New Delhi on April 16-17 achieved positive results and made practical contributions to strengthening their strategic partnership.

Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Vinh made the statement in a recent media interview about the outcome of the political consultation and the strategic dialogue.

Vinh said the two sides commended the good development of the Vietnam-India strategic partnership in recent times, especially after Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s trip to India in November 2013.

They emphasized the importance of maintaining and developing the ties of traditional friendship and trusted strategic partnership between the two countries.

Both sides proposed specific measures to promote a stronger strategic partnership based on five major pillars-politics, economics, security and defense, science and technology and education and culture.

Notably, they agreed to coordinate in making thorough preparations for Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s scheduled visit to Vietnam in the second half of 2014 and signed a number of important cooperation documents during the visit.

In the spirit of friendship and trust, they also shared assessment and views on many regional issues and international issues of concern, including ensuring peace, stability, security and maritime safety in the East Sea, settlement of disputes by peaceful means in accordance with international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) towards the building of the Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC).

They consented to maintain good relations and effective cooperation at regional and international forums, including the ASEAN - India Cooperation, the East Asia Summit (EAS), ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the Mekong - Ganga cooperation (MGC) and cooperation within the framework of the UN.

On this occasion, the Institute for Foreign Policy and Strategic Studies under the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam and the Vivekananda International Foundation of India signed an agreement on the expansion of research cooperation on strategic issues and expert exchange between the two agencies.

Based on the positive results of this meeting, the two sides agreed to hold the fourth strategic dialogue and the seventh political consultation in Vietnam in 2016.

Regarding the strategic focus of the Vietnam-India bilateral relations, Vinh said the strategic partnership between the two nations was marked by an important special visit by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to India in 2013.

The visit opened a new phase of development in bilateral relations and cooperation demonstrated by clearly defined strategic commitments in key cooperative areas.

On politics, the leaders concurred to increase visit exchanges at all levels to further deepen the existing cooperation mechanisms between the two countries.

On national defense and security, they agreed to regard these areas as important pillars of the strategic partnership, contributing to peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia.

The two countries also agreed to boost cooperation on security, safety and maritime freedom, anti-piracy, search and rescue operations, anti-terrorism and transnational crime, effectively dealing with problems such as non-traditional security and climate change, environmental pollution, and energy security.

In terms of economy, the leaders considered economics one of the important contents of strategic partnership aiming to bring bilateral trade to US$7 billion by 2015 and US$15 billion by 2020 and intensify investment in education, infrastructure, oil and gas, new energy, renewable energy, agriculture, garments and textiles, information technology and medicine and pharmacy.

They decided to strengthen the connectivity between Vietnam and India in road, sea and air transport and expand cooperation in other fields of science, biotechnology, remote sensing, nano-technology applications, information and oceanography.

They agreed to boost cultural and people exchanges through archaeological projects, heritage conservation, tourism, sports, media, education, communication and cooperation between the universities and research institutes, to establish relations between the twinned cities and localities of the two countries.

The two countries also decided to bolster coordination at organizations and international forums such as the Asia - Europe Meeting (ASEM), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

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