Prior to their conversation, the two leaders visited the residence of late Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh.
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She also said Prime Minister Modi will be the lead speaker at the session on inclusive and inter connected development.
India’s bilateral trade with Vietnam now stands at $7.8 billion.
Vietnam had earlier Comprehensive Strategic Partnership only with Russian Federation and China.
“It will provide a new direction, momentum and substance to our bilateral cooperation”.
Chinese experts have warned that China may come to Pakistan’s aid if India creates trouble in these regions.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed to China’s President Xi Jinping that it was of “paramount importance” for bilateral relations that Beijing respected India’s concerns on key strategic issues.
Russian Federation and China are the other two countries with which Vietnam has comprehensive strategic partnerships.
A dozen agreements were signed, including one on cooperation of Indian and Vietnamese navies and a contract between an Indian shipbuilder and Vietnam’s coast guard.
In his interaction with Xi, Modi said the attack on the Chinese embassy in Bishkek was yet another proof of “scourge if terrorism”. Vietnam, which has a ruthless understanding of self interest, did not hesitate to confront with “powerful” China to protect its interest in the past.
Vietnam has been steadily increasing its efforts to have a credible defence sector – mostly as deterrence against China’s rise and its aggressive moves in the South China Sea. “New Delhi and Hanoi both wish to raise their bargaining position while having interactions with China, but neither of them wants direct confrontation with Beijing”, it said.
The phrasing in the statement adopted India’s position of merely “noting” the United Nations court’s order, a departure from Vietnam’s statement that welcomed the judgement.
Modi had congratulated May on her assumption of new responsibility on July 27 and had affirmed India’s commitment to further strengthen the strategic bilateral partnership.
Tomorrow’s meeting is viewed as important in the backdrop of steady decline in the bilateral relations over a raft of issues including the Dollars 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Vietnam has already been chosen as the location for establishing an ISRO satellite tracking centre, however the project is under the aegis of the ASEAN-India initiative and not a bilateral arrangement.
On his part, Xi said China and India should continue dialogues at various levels and in various areas, and frequently exchange views on major issues of common interest to enhance understanding and trust.
“In a very hard-hitting intervention, he (Modi) said terrorists in South Asia or anywhere for that matter do not own banks or weapons factories”, Swarup quoted the Indian leader as saying.
At his luncheon banquet speech on Saturday, the Prime Minister spoke of the two partners “jointly facing emerging regional challenges, and to exploit new opportunities”.
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He also thanked Vietnam’s leadership in facilitating inscription of Nalanda Mahavihara as a UNESCO World Heritage site earlier this year.
