The Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu emphasized the importance of building a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region on the basis of respect for national sovereignty and international law and expressed the hope that the concerned countries would be able to reach a consensus on Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
On the second day of his four-day official visit to Vietnam, Naidu held wide-ranging high-level talks with top Vietnamese leadership, including the Vice President, Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh and Chairperson of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Ms. Nguyen Kim Thi Ngan and attended a Banquet Lunch hosted in his honour.
Naidu said that his talks with Vice President, Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, this morning, were extensive and productive. “Our discussions covered the whole range of bilateral and multilateral cooperation”, he added.
In a joint press statement issued along with Vietnam’s Vice President, Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Naidu said that both India and Vietnam were fully committed to an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture based on freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded economic activities and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with the international law.
During his talks with the Vietnamese leadership, the Vice President expressed confidence that the interactions would provide a new direction, momentum and substance to the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He told them that the exchange of high-level visits from both sides was a clear indication of the commitment of both countries to further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. India’s commitment to be a reliable development partner was stronger than before, he added.
Describing Vietnam as a “strategic pillar of India’s Act East Policy and our key interlocutor in ASEAN”, the Vice President said India’s commitment to be a reliable development partner was stronger than before. He said that both the countries agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in defence and security, outer space, science and technology, oil and gas, renewable energy, infrastructure development, agriculture and innovation-based sectors.
