"Vietnam in India Month" celebrations begins

New Delhi, Nov 7 (VNI) Amidst growing ties with India,Vietnam is celebrating this month as "Vietnam in India month" in which lots of programmes are lined up.These include various programmes related to people to people contacts so that  people of both countries come closer and acquaint themselves with each other's rich culture, believes  and social social values. Special focuss  of these month long activities will be on enhancing cooperation in  defence, tourism sector etc.To mark the third anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership, Vietnam is organisation a slew of  these events  to showcase its business potential and to boost engagement in areas such as tourism, education and culture.Under the three-year-old comprehensive strategic partnership  between two  top Vietnamese generals visiting the country this month to discuss security issues.Senior lieutenant General Bui Van Nam, Vietnam’s deputy minister of public security, is currently in India for meetings with Indian interlocutors to boost security cooperation. Gen Phan Van Giang, the Chief of General Staff of the Army, will visit New Delhi during November 24-27 to strengthen defence cooperation,

Ambassador of The Socialist Republic of Vietnam in India,Pham Sanh Chau while interacted with  Indian journalists  revealed  these  month long activities during November 2019 to commemorate Vietnam’s Month in India and celebrate the 3rd Anniversary of Establishment of Vietnam–India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. These celebrations are being organised by Vietnam Embassy in India in partnership with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Vietnam.As one of Foreign policy  Indian expert said "Vietnam is an important friendly country of India's Act East Policy, besides Mahatma Buddha ,a great  connect between people of  both the countries, relations in defence, trade and other sectors are very important and great potential for furthering it. In this context these celebrations assumes greater importance " Over 32 programmes have been planned during  this period to promote trade, defence and security, investment, tourism, and Cultural-friendship exchanges in 5 states of India. Number of officials from ministries, industries, businesses, Think Tanks, Academia, Scholars of India and Vietnam will attend these events. Some of the main events include Trade, Investment and Tourism Promotion Forums in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, meetings of defence officials to enhance bilateral security cooperation, Bouddha Bhumi Vihara, India-ASEAN Business Summit, Vietnam’s Film Festivaks Awards ceremony, Cultural Exchange and Friendship Exchange, Book Launch –"President Ho Chi Minh with India", ASEAN Ladies Circle Programme, Vietnam Food Week, Defence manufacturing and Maritime security cooperation, Connectivity with India through North East of India amongst many others.Joint production of military hardware and Vietnam’s participating in Def Expo 2020, which will be hosted by Uttar Pradesh, will figure on the agenda during Giang’s visit. The two sides are also exploring ways to operationalise a $500-million line of credit for defence cooperation that was offered by India in 2016, Chau said.The 18th security dialogue, one of about 20 bilateral mechanisms, was held in Vietnam last month and also discussed cooperation in defence production and regional security issues, he added.Describing repeated intrusions by Chinese vessels in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone as “one of the most serious crises”, Chau said his country had welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks on maintaining peace and security in the region and on respect for international law, including freedom of navigation and overflights.

Low-cost carrier Viet Jet, Vietnam’s first privately owned airline, is set to launch Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City flights four times a week from December 6 and Delhi-Hanoi flights three times a week from December 7 to meet the needs of the growing number of tourists from both sides, Chau said. Ambassador added that during his tenure's  first year only Vietnam has direct flights due to right strategy, connect with right people and support from the Embassy. While both countries have achieved several milestones due to the Comprehensive Strategic partnership in the fields of trade, defence and security and people-to-people exchange, a lot more are there to achieve. These Vietnam’ Month would further relations converting traditional bonds into strategic partnership.it may be mentioned that about 35,000 Vietnamese tourists visit India every year, mainly travelling to several Buddhist sites across the country, while 110,000 Indians travel to Vietnam. Chau said he expected these figures to triple following the launch of direct flights by IndiGo and VietJet.On the business and trade front Ambassador added, that the two countries are also on course to achieve the target of enhancing bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2020, having recorded trade of almost $14 billion this year. An Indian tech company is planning investments that will create about 10,000 jobs for young engineers.VNI