NATIONAL
Thursday, Oct 13, 2011, Posted at: 10:05(GMT+7)
Vietnam, India issue joint statement
Vietnam and India issued a joint statement on the occasion of President Truong Tan Sang's State visit to India on 11-13 October 2011 at the invitation of President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.
State President Truong Tan Sang (L) and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (Source: VNA)
The joint statement says the leaders of the two countries welcomed the sustained development of the traditional friendship and strategic partnership between India and Vietnam. They recalled the glorious contributions of Prime Minsiter Jawaharlal Nehru and President Ho Chi Minh for the development of India-Vietnam Friendship that had been preserved, nutured and further developed by generations of leaders and people of the two countries and had gone from strength to strength. Both countries agreed to celebrate 2012 as the “Vietnam - India Friendship Year” to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the full diplomatic relation (07/01/1972 - 07/01/2012) and the 5th anniversary of the establishment of the strategic partnership (06/07/2007 - 06/07/2012). The Indian side would also organise the “Year of India in Vietnam” in 2012 with a series of cultural events including performing arts, film festivals, and other events in various cities across Vietnam.
Both sides agreed to further enhance high-level visits and meetings between the two countries. The leaders noted that there still remains considerable potential for cooperation and agreed to strongly enhance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries based on key pillars of politic, defence, security, economic, cultural and human resource development cooperation.
The leaders agreed to further deepen the strategic partnership, by adding more concrete programs and projects and broadening it to new areas for cooperation, taking into account the changing political and economic situation both at regional and international levels. Both sides agreed to continue strengthening cooperation in the areas of politics, economy, trade and investment, finance, science and technology, human resource development, culture, agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture etc., while striving to expand cooperation into other potential areas such as high-tech science and technology, justice, public health, information and communication, tourism, sports, press, and other areas of mutual interest.
Both sides noted with satisfaction that the two-way trade had increased steadily in the recent years and the trade deficit of the Vietnamese side had declined. President Truong Tan Sang affirmed that Vietnam would create favourable conditions for Indian enterprises to invest in the country. Both sides agreed to step up trade and investment linkages, inter-alia by encouraging cooperation between the private sectors. Both sides set a target of 7 billion USD in bilateral trade by 2015. Both sides welcomed the entry into force of the India-ASEAN FTA in Goods and agreed to work for the early finalization of the India-ASEAN FTA in Services and Investments.
The two sides welcomed the further strengthening of cooperation in the fields of defense and security. They expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the 6th India-Vietnam Security Dialogue at the Deputy Defence Minister level and the establishment of a mechanism of biennial dialogue on security issues between the Ministry of Home Affairs of India and Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and agreed to work towards the early completion of the Indira Gandhi Hi-tech Forensic Laboratory in Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese side welcomed the offer for training and capacity building of Vietnamese police forces.
Both sides welcomed the signing of the Treaty on Extradition, Memorandum of Understanding on the Vietnam-India Friendship Year 2012, the agreement between Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam) and ONGC Videsh Limited (ONGC-VL), Work Plan for the years 2011-2013 in the field of Agricultural and Fishery Research and Education, Cultural Exchange Programme for the years 2011-2014, Protocol on Cultural Cooperation. The Vietnamese side welcomed the announcement by the Prime Minister of India to double the number of ITEC scholarsahips from 75 to 150 from the year 2012.
The Government of India agreed to extend new Lines of Credit to Vietnam on favourable terms and conditions for projects in infrastructure, oil and gas, power generation and transmission projects and in other areas as requested by the Vietnamese side; and agreed to consider earmaking a buyer’s credit.
The leaders agreed to further strengthen cooperation at regional and international fora, especially the ASEAN-India and Mekong-Ganga fora as well as in EAS, ASEM, ARF, WTO, UN and the Non-aligned Movement. The Vietnamese side reaffirmed its strong support for India’s Look East Policy and the strengthening of ASEAN–India relationship. The Indian side congratulated Vietnam for its success in fulfilling its role as ASEAN Chair in 2010 and thanked Vietnam for its support to India’s candidature for permanent membership in an expanded United Nations Security Council and the G4 short draft resolution on reform of UNSC.
The two sides stressed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and of ensuring the safety, security and freedom of navigation in the high seas. The two sides agreed that disputes in the East Sea should be settled through peaceful negotiations, without resorting to the threat or use of force by the parties concerned, in accordance with universally recognised principles of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea.
Both sides agreed to step up cooperation in the field of capacity building, technical assistance and information sharing between their respective relevant agencies for ensuring security of sea-lanes, including combating piracy, preventing pollution, conducting search and rescue, etc. on sea.
The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation to effectively address the challenges posed by non-traditional security threats such as climate change, environmental degradation, natural disasters, energy security, HIV/AIDS and avian influenza.
Both sides also agreed to closely cooperate to promote dialogue and cooperation within the EAS with the aim of promoting peace, stability, development and prosperity in East Asia.
The two sides strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and resolved to increase cooperation in the common efforts of the international community in preventing this scourge in a comprehensive manner. Both sides agreed to closely cooperate for an early finalisation of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism, for which India had presented a draft at the United Nations in 1996.
Source: Vietnamplus
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