The Prime Minister's State visit to India is of utmost importance.

The Prime Minister of Vietnam is one of the first foreign leaders invited to visit India after India elected a new Lok Sabha and Government.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Thanh Binh.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Thanh Binh gave an interview about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's State visit to India.

Could you please tell us the significance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's State visit to India?

Deputy Minister Pham Thanh Binh: Vietnam and India have a traditional and close-knit relationship, which was nurtured by President Ho Chi Minh and previous Indian leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahalal Nehru, and generations of leaders and people of the two countries.

In 2016, the two countries established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework. This was the first visit by the Prime Ministers of both sides after establishing the new framework. The Prime Minister of Vietnam was one of the first foreign leaders to be invited to visit India after India elected a new Lok Sabha and a new Government. The visit also took place at the time of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Agreement, in which India played a very important role in supporting the negotiation and signing of this Agreement.

In the above context, this visit of the Prime Minister is of great significance, affirming Vietnam's consistent policy of attaching importance to the traditional friendship and Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with India, contributing to strengthening the relationship between the leaders of the two countries, especially between the two Prime Ministers.

The visit was carefully and respectfully prepared by both sides, with a rich program, extensive and substantial content, with the main focus being to further deepen the Vietnam - India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in all fields, responding to changes in the current geopolitical and economic situation; on the one hand, consolidating traditional areas of cooperation, while at the same time expanding to areas with both sides' potential and strengths such as electronics, telecommunications, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, green economy, digital economy, AI, semiconductors, new materials, essential minerals, etc.

The visit is also an opportunity for the two countries to increase sharing on regional and international security and strategic issues and affirm mutual support in multilateral forums of mutual interest.

Could you please assess the relationship between the two countries in recent times, including cooperation in the fields of trade and investment?

Deputy Minister Pham Thanh Binh: The Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership has developed positively with a solid foundation of relations and high political trust. Relations between the Party, State, National Assembly and people have been expanded, with regular visits and contacts at all levels and channels. Dialogue cooperation mechanisms, specialized cooperation subcommittees, etc. have been maintained and promoted effectively.

Defense and security cooperation is an important pillar and at a strategic level with the two countries signing the Joint Vision Statement on Defense Partnership and the Memorandum of Understanding on Logistics Support (June 2022), cooperation in training, defense industry cooperation, sending naval ships to visit, providing credit packages and non-refundable aid.

Economically, two-way trade turnover has increased 2.5 times since the two countries upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2016), reaching nearly 15 billion USD in 2023. The two countries still have great potential in trade and investment cooperation with many strengths such as the world's most populous market and dynamic economic development. Major Indian corporations are promoting cooperation with Vietnam in strategic areas such as renewable energy, processing industry, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, seaport infrastructure, and logistics. On the Vietnamese side, Vinfast Group has started construction of an automobile assembly and manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu state, with a committed capital of 2 billion USD.

Cooperation in the fields of science - technology, information - communication, education - training, culture - tourism has all developed positively. Currently, there are more than 50 direct flights between the two countries every week; India is in the top 3 countries with the highest growth rate of tourists to Vietnam, the number of Indian tourists to Vietnam in the past 4 years has increased 2.5 times (from 170,000 in 2019 to 400,000 in 2023). In the past 10 years, India has granted Vietnam nearly 3,000 short-term and long-term scholarships in various programs. In addition, the Indian Government has supported the implementation of the project to restore, embellish and restore groups of towers at the My Son World Cultural Heritage Site in Quang Nam province.

The two countries are promoting and strengthening cooperation in new potential fields such as renewable energy, semiconductor chips, innovation, green economy, digital transformation and information technology, smart agriculture and pharmaceuticals, etc.

The two countries also closely coordinate and support each other at multilateral forums, especially within the framework of the United Nations and at regional forums led by ASEAN.

It can be said that the Vietnam - India relationship has developed comprehensively and expanded in most areas in recent times and has much potential and opportunity to further promote in the coming time./.

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