“The visit is meant to further boost our bilateral and multilateral engagement and cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, commerce, culture, human resource development, science and technology, space research, defence and security”.
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India and its 1.25 billion people stand ready to be Vietnam’s partner and a friend in this journey.
Regarding the East Vietnam Sea situation, the two nations are committed to preserving peace, stability, security, and freedom of navigation and aviation in the vital waterway and in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Our decision to upgrade our strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership captures the intent and path of our future cooperation”, Modi said after meeting with Phuc.
He stressed that both countries must be sensitive to each other’s strategic interests and ensure that there were no negative perceptions about each other.
The PM also thanked Turnbull for Australia’s “proactive support” for India’s membership to the NSG.
It was unclear whether the latest loan included the US$100 million that India had previously made available to Vietnam for four yet-to-be-built patrol vessels in a deal agreed in late 2014.
Another $5 million will facilitate the construction of an army software park at the Telecommunications University in Nha Trang.
India and Vietnam share borders and large trade volumes with China, and have repeatedly locked horns with Beijing over territorial disputes in the Himalayas and the South China Sea, respectively. Modi, who is the fourth Indian prime minister to visit Vietnam during past about 50 years, was given a guard of honour and ceremonial welcome by the Vietnamese government.
In the statement, both sides reiterated their support “for peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight, and unimpeded commerce, based on the principles of global law, as reflected notably in the” United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea. There are some nations that use it as an instrument of state policy.
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.
Vietnam has shown a keen interest cooperating with India in air and defense production.
“China is willing to work with India to maintain their hard-won sound relations and further advance their cooperation”, President Xi said while meeting Modi.
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.
“The range of agreements signed just a while ago point to the diversity and depth of our cooperation, ” he said. “Because anything less than that is not enough”, Modi said.
He also met with Vietnam National Assembly Chairperson Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.
The Indian side expressed its commitment to capacity building and training to enable Vietnam’s participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations, it said.
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ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp.
