Joint Statement on the State Visit of Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to India

The Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung accompanied by his spouse paid a State Visit to the Republic of India from 27-28 October 2014 at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, H.E. Shri Narendra Modi.

Prime Minister Dung was accorded a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and laid a wreath at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat. Prime Minister Modi held official talks with Prime Minister Dung and hosted a banquet in his honour. Prime Minister Dung called on President of India, H.E. Shri Pranab Mukherjee and met Vice President H.E. Shri Hamid Ansari, Speaker of the Lok Sabha H.E. Smt. Sumitra Mahajan and External Affairs Minister H.E. Smt. Sushma Swaraj. Prime Minister Dung also visited the holy city of Bodh Gaya. He had a meeting with the Chief Minister of Bihar, H.E. Shri Jitan Ram Manjhi. A Conclave of business leaders from both countries was held during the visit.

The Prime Ministers welcomed the developments in recent years which have led to a continuous strengthening of the Strategic Partnership between India and Vietnam. They reaffirmed their commitment for comprehensive development of the Strategic Partnership between the two countries. The Prime Ministers agreed that a strong India-Vietnam partnership would lead to peace, prosperity and stability for people of both countries and in the wider region. Prime Minister Modi reaffirmed that Vietnam was an important pillar of India's Look East Policy. Prime Minister Dung welcomed a greater role for India in the regional and international arena.

The Prime Ministers noted that strategic partnership between both countries was based on traditional friendship, mutual understanding, strong trust, support and convergence of views on various regional and international issues. They expressed happiness on the success of the recent State Visit of President of India H.E. Shri Pranab Mukherjee to Vietnam in September 2014. They also welcomed the successful visit of External Affairs Minister H.E. Smt. Sushma Swaraj to Hanoi in August 2014. The Prime Ministers called for more intensive exchanges at all levels under the established dialogue mechanisms and urged effective implementation of agreements concluded between both countries.

The Prime Ministers expressed satisfaction at the progress made in defence cooperation including exchange of visits, annual Security Dialogue, service to service cooperation, ship visits, training, capacity building and cooperation at the regional fora including on Humanitarian Mine Action under ADMM-Plus.They called for early implementation of US$ 100 million Line of Credit Agreement for defence procurement extended by India to Viet Nam. They expressed hope that the ongoing robust defence and security cooperation between India and Vietnam will continue to be strengthened through regular exchanges at high level.

The Prime Ministers agreed that enhancing economic cooperation between both countries should be pursued as a strategic objective. They welcomed the strong growth in bilateral trade in recent years particularly after the implementation of India-ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement and noted that the conclusion of India-ASEAN Trade in Services and Investment Agreements would further boost economic cooperation between India and ASEAN in general and Vietnam in particular. They instructed officials on both sides to utilize established mechanisms such as the Joint Sub-Commission on Trade as well as closer PPP and B2B contacts for furthering our shared trade and investment objectives. They also called for close cooperation towards realization of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP).

Prime Minister Dung was accompanied by a large business delegation which had separate meetings with apex chambers of commerce and industry of India including CII, FICCI, and ASSOCHAM. The Prime Ministers urged the business leaders to explore business opportunities on both sides. Business leaders on both sides identified the following sectors as priority areas for cooperation: -hydrocarbons, power generation, infrastructure, tourism, textiles, footwear, medical and pharmaceuticals, ICT, electronics, agriculture, agro-products, chemicals, machine tools and other supporting industries. The Prime Ministers expressed their satisfaction on the steady progress made in enhancing trade and investment through fruitful interaction between business leaders from both sides. They agreed to take measures to significantly expand and diversify bilateral trade for mutually beneficial results and agreed to enhance the trade targets to US$ 15 billion by 2020. They urged that events like the India-CLMV Business Conclave should be utilized by business leaders and decision makers to achieve this target.

The Prime Ministers reaffirmed the importance of investment for the growth of their economies and ways to create environment to mobilise greater investment. Prime Minister Dung welcomed Indian companies to invest in Vietnam and affirmed Vietnam's commitment to create favourable conditions for Indian investments. Prime Minister Modi invited the Vietnamese companies to join the accelerated economic growth programme ‘Make in India’ for reaping the benefits of this new initiative. They agreed to utilize the Customs Cooperation Agreement and Maritime Shipping Agreement between the two countries for facilitating more intensive economic engagement.

The Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the Agreement between ONGC Videsh Limited and PetroVietnam for exploration of new oil and gas projects in Vietnam. Prime Minister Dung welcomed Indian oil and gas companies to explore new opportunities in midstream and downstream activities in the oil and gas sector in Vietnam.

The Prime Ministers welcomed the approval by the State Bank of Vietnam for the opening of the Bank of India branch in Vietnam.

The Prime Ministers emphasized the importance of connectivity between India and Vietnam and welcomed the code share arrangement between Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines leading to commencement of Jet Airways flights to Ho Chi Minh City from 5 November 2014 onwards. They expressed hope that Vietnam Airlines will also commence flight services to India shortly. They also encouraged air carriers of both countries to further open and operate flights between Vietnam and India. They agreed to promote maritime connectivity between the two countries and ship building cooperation.

The Prime Ministers welcomed the signing of the MoU on conservation and restoration of Cham monuments at My Son by the Archaeological Survey of India. They called for energizing tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries. They also welcomed signing of the MoU on Nalanda University as a symbol of Buddhist heritage shared by India and Vietnam. Prime Minister Modi thanked Prime Minister Dung for the establishment of the India Study Centre at the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics and Public Administration in Hanoi and welcomed its collaboration with the Indian Institute of Public Administration. The Prime Ministers appreciated the convening of the 3rd Round Table of the ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks in Hanoi in August 2014.

The Prime Ministers welcomed ongoing cooperation in the establishment of capacity building institutes in Vietnam on IT, English language training, entrepreneurship development, high-performance computing and other areas and called for early finalization of development partnership projects currently being planned by both sides including the establishment of Vietnam-India English and IT Training Centre at the Telecommunications University in Nha Trang, the Centre for Excellence in Software Development and Training at Ho Chi Minh City, the Satellite Tracking and Data Reception and Imaging Centre at Ho Chi Minh City. They also agreed to continue cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and explore cooperation in the field of space, including in the launch of satellites.

The Prime Ministers valued the cooperation and coordination between both sides at regional and international fora and agreed to strengthen cooperation particularly in ASEAN, ARF, ADMM Plus, EAS, UN, NAM, ASEM and WTO, as well as other sub-regional cooperation mechanisms. They noted that Vietnam’s assumption of the role of ASEAN Coordinator for India for the period of 2015-18 would facilitate closer cooperation between the two sides as ASEAN reaches its goal of becoming a full community by 2015. The Prime Ministers also agreed to strengthen the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation. They stressed the need for urgent reform of the United Nations and expansion of the UN Security Council in both the permanent and the non-permanent categories of membership, with enhanced representation from developing countries. Prime Minister Modi expressed gratitude for Vietnam’s consistent support to India’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed and expanded UNSC. The Prime Ministers reaffirmed support for each other's candidature for non-permanent membership of the UNSC, Vietnam for the term 2020-21 and India for the term 2021-22. India also agreed to assist Viet Nam in capacity building for participation in UN peacekeeping operations.

The Prime Ministers reiterated their desire and determination to work together to maintain peace, stability, growth and prosperity in Asia and beyond. They agreed that freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea/South China Sea should not be impeded and called the parties concerned to exercise restraint, avoid threat or use of force and resolve disputes through peaceful means in accordance with universally recognized principles of international law, including the UNCLOS-1982. They also welcomed the collective commitment of the concerned parties to abide by and implement the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and to work towards the adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea on the basis of consensus. They called for cooperation in ensuring security of sea-lanes, maritime safety and security, combating piracy and conducting search and rescue operations. The following Agreements were signed in the presence of Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Dung: (i) MoU on the Establishment of Nalanda University; (ii) MoU on Conservation and Restoration of the World Heritage Site of My Son, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam; (iii) MoU on Establishing the Centre for English Language and Information Technology Training at the Telecommunications University; (iv) Cultural Exchange Programme 2015-17; (v) MoU on Exchange of Audio-Visual Programmes; (vi) HoA between OVL and PetroVietnam; and (vii) MoU between ONGC and PetroVietnam.

Interactions between the Prime Ministers were warm, cordial and friendly. Prime Minister Dung expressed his gratitude for the warm reception and hospitality accorded to him and his delegation. He extended an invitation to Prime Minister Modi to visit Vietnam at a mutually convenient date. Prime Minister Modi accepted the invitation with pleasure. Dates for the visit will be finalized through diplomatic channels.

List of documents signed during the State Visit of Prime Minister of Vietnam to India (October 27-28, 2014)