Ambassador Ton Sinh Thanh (Photo: VNA)
Speaking at the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Ton Sinh Thanh said that on January 7th, 1972, India and Vietnam heightened their diplomatic relations to the Ambassadorial level and this was a natural development during thousands of years of cultural, religious and trade interaction between the two countries, as well as mutual support in the struggle for national independence.
Over the past 45 years, the relations between the two countries have been growing strongly. India has always shown itself to be a great friend and a reliable partner of Vietnam.
According to Ambassador Thanh, based on the convergence of strategic interests and strong political beliefs, Vietnam and India established the Strategic Partnership in 2007. Since then, the bilateral cooperation has been expanded and deepened in the five pillars of politics, defence-security, economics, science-technology and culture-education.
Particularly, the leaders of the two countries have recently decided to raise the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visit to Vietnam by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, in order to meet the expectations of the people of the two countries in the new context of the region.
India and Vietnam not only continue to strengthen political and national defence-security cooperation, but also focus on promoting economic cooperation. With USD5.5 billion in bilateral trade revenue, India is one of 10 leading trade partners of Vietnam. India is also a major investor in Vietnam, with 130 projects worth USD700 million.
At the ceremony, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Mobashar Jawed Akbar thanked Vietnam for supporting India's Look East policy, and expressed that Vietnam will be a bridge to help India reach ASEAN member countries. He sent New Year greetings to Vietnamese friends and wished that prosperity would come to everyone in the world.
After the opening ceremony, the participants enjoyed a special art program imbued with Vietnamese characteristics, performed by artists from the Vietnam National Academy of Music and Viet Bac Theatre of Folk Music and Dance, and Vietnamese and Indian dishes prepared officials and staff from the Vietnamese Embassy./.