U.S. president Barack Obama has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “bold policy” move on India’s most transformative tax reform in decades, Goods and Services Tax or GST on the sidelines of G20 summit in Hangzhou.
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As for China, well, let Beijing read between the lines.
“I am also happy to announce a new defence credit for Vietnam of US$500 million (RM2 billion) for facilitating deeper defence cooperation”, Modi told reporters after signing the deal.
Modi left Vietnam for Hangzhou, China on the evening on Sept. 3 to attend the G-20 Summit on September 4 and 5. It was the first time in 15 years for an Indian prime minister to visit Hanoi for bilateral talks.
Referring to the centuries-old cultural connect between the people of the two countries, Modi said that an Indian Cultural Centre would be opened in Hanoi soon.
But Modi’s trip assumes greater significance.
About 50 per cent of India’s trade passes through the South China Sea, where Beijing has built up islands and outcrops capable of supporting military activities to the chagrin of Vietnam and other claimants. The ruling came July 12.
They hoped that all relevant parties would resolve their disputes using amicable measures as per global law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
India believes that states should resolve disputes through peaceful means without threat or use of force and exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities that could complicate or escalate disputes affecting peace and stability. Both the countries have engaged in conflict with China over the territorial disputes in the Himalayas and the South China Sea, respectively.
The issue has emerged as another thorn in India’s ties with China.
This was Modi’s eighth meeting with Xi as the Prime Minister.
Swarup refused to divulge if the issue of India’s membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group figured in the meet with Xi.
ASEAN is short for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is a political and economic organization whose members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Echoing the statements of previous summits, the draft notes the importance of full implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by China and Asean in 2002 and the early conclusion of ongoing talks on the framework of a legally binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
However, such a bilateral relationship will have only limited influence on China. India has carried out joint military exercises with the US and Japan, apparently to counter Beijing’s bid to expand its naval sway.
He alluded to May’s previous stint as Home Secretary and said she was well aware of the dangers of terrorism, Swarup said.
India’s ONGC Videsh Limited is engaged in oil exploration projects in Vietnam for over three decades and there may be announcements about new projects in the sector during the bilateral visit, which is taking place after a gap of 15 years.
An agreement on construction of offshore patrol boats was also signed by the two sides, signalling a step to give concrete shape to defence engagement between the two nations.
Vietnam and India agreed here on Saturday to upgrade their strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership.
Indo-Vietnam trade, which has been growing at an annual rate of about 26% the past few years, now stands at $7.8 billion.
Thanking Modi, May had during the telephonic conversation said she looked forward to work closely with India to develop stronger ties and enhance cooperation.
India expects the world community to “speak and act in unity and to respond with urgency to fight” terror, Modi said.
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India has already invested over $1 billion in Vietnam.
