India, Vietnam Agree to Add New Momentum to Economic and Defence Engagement

India and Vietnam on Tuesday agreed to add new momentum to the economic and defence engagement between the two countries and also to explore closer cooperation in emerging areas including civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies.

Both the countries held their 17th Meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Vietnam’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister Pham Binh Minh.
The meeting was held through video-conferencing.
During the meeting, both sides reviewed the recent developments in India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and discussed the future trajectory of their wide-ranging engagement, the ministry of external affairs said in a statement here.
Both the ministers also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, especially in the context of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr Jaishankar underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat for enhancing resilience through self-reliance and human-centric globalization as the basis for India’s economic revival.
He invited Vietnam to take advantage of India’s new economic capacities and demands.
The minister reaffirmed India’s development and capacity building assistance to Vietnam through initiatives such as Quick Impact Projects (QIP), ITEC and e-ITEC initiatives, PhD fellowships, as well as projects in water resource management in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, SDGs, digital connectivity and heritage conservation.
“12 QIPs for implementation in Vietnam have been approved by the Government of India, including 7 QIPs in water resource management in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta Region and 5 QIPs related to construction of educational infrastructure in Vietnam,” it added.
Memorandum of Understanding for “cooperation between Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS), New Delhi and Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Hanoi” and “MoU between National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi and Scientific Research Institute of Sea and Islands, Hanoi” were also signed on the margins of the Joint Commission Meeting.
Based on their strong convergence of views on many global and regional issues, both sides agreed to coordinate closely at multilateral forums, including at the UN Security Council, where both India and Vietnam will serve concurrently as non-permanent members in 2021.
They also agreed to step up cooperation and coordination at important regional forums under the ASEAN framework.
Dr Jaishankar expressed India’s full support to Vietnam’s chairmanship of ASEAN this year and appreciated the positive leadership provided by Vietnam to ASEAN in a year when the world is faced with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The two sides also agreed to enhance their bilateral cooperation in line with India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the ASEAN’s Outlook on Indo-Pacific to achieve shared security, prosperity and growth for all in the region.
India invited Vietnam to collaborate on one of the seven pillars of the IPOI.

Source: UNIINDIA