PM successfully concludes visit to India

During his stay in India, PM Dung held talks with PM Narendra Modi and met with President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President and Chairman of the Indian Parliament's Rayja Sabha (Upper House) Hamid Ansari, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House) Sumitra Mahajan, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Chief Minister of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, Jitan Ram Manjihi.

He also attended and delivered a speech at the Viet Nam – India trade and investment forum and met with leaders of such major economic groups in India as TATA, ESSAR, ILFS and Jet Airways.

PM Dung and Indian leaders reaffirmed their commitments to promoting the strategic partnership comprehensively. The Indian side affirmed Vietnam as an important pillar in its Look East policy.

The two sides agreed to increase the exchange of delegations at all levels under the established dialogue mechanism and effectively implement the signed agreements.

During their talks, the two PMs expressed their pleasure with achievements in defence cooperation, including delegation exchanges, annual defence policy dialogues, training, and collaboration at regional forums.

They asked for an early implementation of a US$100 million credit package provided by India for defence purchasing.

The two PMs agreed to enhance economic cooperation as a strategic target in bilateral relations, lauded the strong growth in bilateral trade and stressed that the conclusion of the India-ASEAN free trade agreement on services and investment would boost economic cooperation between India and ASEAN, including Viet Nam.

Both sides expressed their pleasure with the stable growth of bilateral trade and investment and agreed to take measures to promote and diversify bilateral trade ties in order to raise two-way trade to US$15 billion by 2020.

They also applauded the signing of an agreement on extracting oil and gas, the establishment of an institute for capacity enhancement in IT, English, business development and other areas.

The two Government leaders spoke highly of bilateral coordination at regional and international forums and reaffirmed their resolution to maintain peace, stability, development and prosperity in Asia and the world. They agreed that maritime and aviation freedom in the East Sea should not be hindered, calling for all sides' restraint, without using force or threatening the use of force while saying that all disputes should be solved by peaceful means in accordance withinternational law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

They lauded relevant sides' commitment to following and implementing the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea towards an early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

The official visit wrapped up with success, contributing to bolstering the strategic partnership with a focus on economic cooperation while continuing to deepen relations in science, technology, culture, education, tourism and aviation.

 By Vien Nhu

(http://www.chinhphu.vn)