The Prime Minister's visit opened a new page in Vietnam

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son gives an interview about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's State visit to India from July 30 to August 1.

25 rich activities

Could the Minister summarize the Prime Minister's activities during his two-day State visit to India?

At the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation paid a State visit to India.

In just two days, the Prime Minister had a dense, rich, and diverse working program, with about 25 activities, including talks and meetings with senior Indian leaders and major Indian corporations, and speaking at the Vietnam-India Business Forum and the Indian Council for International Affairs.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi affirmed the message of further strengthening the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

The Prime Minister's meetings and contacts with Indian leaders have helped affirm the close friendship and traditional friendship between the two countries, as well as affirm the respect and support that the two countries have for each other in their overall foreign policies.

Indian leaders expressed their deep condolences on the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, an outstanding leader of the Vietnamese people and a close friend of the Indian people.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a Joint Statement on strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

During the visit, the leaders of the two countries affirmed the message of further strengthening the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in traditional areas such as defense - security, trade - investment, culture - education and expanding new areas of cooperation in green economy, digital economy, knowledge economy, increasing two-way trade and investment, promoting and deepening cooperation in science - technology.

What is the significance of the Prime Minister's visit, Minister?

This is the first visit of a Vietnamese Prime Minister to India since the two countries established a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is one of the first foreign leaders that Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited to pay a state visit to India right after being re-elected for a third consecutive term.

The two countries are looking forward to the important milestone of celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2026 and the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 2027.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with warm and friendly feelings.

Therefore, the visit is of utmost importance, creating new momentum and opening a new page in the Vietnam-India relationship, more substantial and profound, with more opportunities.

The visit also helps affirm that Vietnam and India always support each other, are ready to cooperate, and join hands to build peace, stability, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

It can be said that the Prime Minister's visit has become a strong catalyst, affirming the high determination of the leaders of the two countries in bringing the bilateral relationship into a new phase, stronger, more practical and effective, with deeper trust, and more open opportunities.

Strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in the spirit of “5 more”

So, in your opinion, what are the outstanding results of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's State visit to India?

The visit was a great success, achieving the set goals with specific and practical results, meeting the concerns and expectations of both sides.

The two sides issued a Joint Statement on strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signed nine documents in the fields of diplomacy, defense, finance, health, culture, tourism, and human resource training, including the Action Program to implement the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the 2024-2028 period.

During the exchange, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in the spirit of "5 more".

Firstly, higher political and strategic trust. The leaders of the two countries affirmed the importance of further strengthening delegation exchanges and contacts through the Party, National Assembly, Government and local channels, continuing to implement the Distinguished Guest Program between the two sides; at the same time, enhancing the effectiveness of cooperation mechanisms.

Vietnam’s announcement of its membership in the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and its affirmation of early completion of procedures to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), two of India’s key global initiatives, have contributed to strengthening trust between the two countries.

Second, deepen defense and security cooperation by promoting the effective implementation of the Joint Statement on Vietnam-India Defense Partnership until 2030, expanding cooperation in maritime security, cyber security, and counter-terrorism. The signing of a $500 million credit package for defense by both sides was a breakthrough during the visit.

Third, economic, trade and investment cooperation will be more substantial, effective and breakthrough. The two sides aim to reach a two-way trade turnover of 20 billion USD and double two-way investment from now until 2030.

Vietnam has asked India to resolve trade barriers, promote Vietnamese products with strengths to the large and potential Indian market such as electronics, textiles, agricultural products; attract large Indian corporations to invest in Vietnam in the fields of infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, energy, etc.

On this occasion, businesses from both countries signed six major contracts on aviation, airports and logistics. Vietjet Air announced a direct flight from Da Nang to Ahmedabad (India), aiming to further increase the number of direct flights between the two countries (currently 54 flights/week).

Fourth, more open cooperation in science and technology and innovation . Accordingly, the two sides agreed to promote cooperation in research and development (R&D), innovation in the fields of core technology, semiconductor chips, artificial intelligence, cooperation in atomic energy, and rare earths.

At the same time, expand cooperation in the petrochemical and new energy sectors, promote the establishment of joint ventures to produce IT products and cooperate in training IT engineers to meet the development of this industry.

The two Prime Ministers pressed the button to inaugurate the Military Software Park in Nha Trang.

Fifth, cultural cooperation, tourism and people-to-people exchange will be more closely connected. The two sides agreed to soon sign a cooperation agreement on tourism, strive to soon achieve the goal of doubling the number of tourists compared to the present with about 400,000 visitors/year, continue to cooperate in restoring and preserving Cham Tower heritages in My Son, Quang Nam as well as further diversifying forms of people-to-people exchange.

With the above achievements, I believe that Vietnam-India relations have truly entered a new page. Based on the results of the visit, ministries, sectors, localities, businesses and people all have more opportunities to strengthen cooperation with India.

Vietnamnet.vn

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chuyen-tham-cua-thu-tuong-da-mo-ra-mot-trang-moi-trong-quan-he-viet-nam-an-do-2307879.html