Vietnam, India convene 11th political consultation, eighth strategic dialogue.

NDO/VNA – Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung and Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs of India Riva Ganguly Das co-chaired the 11th political consultation and the eighth strategic dialogue between the two foreign ministries via videoconference on November 12.

During both meetings, the two sides engaged in open and straigh-forward discussions on bilateral cooperation in various fields as well as regional and global issues of shared concern.

They shared the view that the Vietnam-India bilateral strategic partnership is growing in various areas, especially in politics, national defence-security, economy and trade.

Deputy Minister Dung suggested India work with Vietnam to promote high-level visits and hold meaningful activities to raise the two peoples' awareness of Vietnam-India relationship on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties next year.

The Indian side highlighted the long-standing and close cultural ties between the two nations. She expressed satisfaction about two-way trade that reached nearly US$11 billion in the first ten months of this year.

Both sides agreed to reinforce bilateral ties in energy, health care, agriculture, culture, economy, trade and investment, as well as in promising fields such as information technology, renewable energy, hi-tech agriculture and innovation.

The Vietnamese official thanked India for providing medical assistance for Vietnam to fight the pandemic, He proposed India continue helping Vietnam with COVID-19 vaccines and medicines in the near future.

The two sides pledged to strengthen mutual support and coordination at regional and global forums, especially the United Nations and the ASEAN-India framework.

The Indian side affirmed appreciation of Mekong-Ganga cooperation and expressed readiness to consider launching a trilateral cooperation model involving India, Vietnam and a development partner.

The two sides affirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, and maritime and aviation safety and freedom, as well as addressing disputes by peaceful means in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.