Participants at the ceremony (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The Indian Embassy in Vietnam held a ceremony to celebrate the 69th Indian Independence Day (August 15, 1947) in Hanoi on August 15.
Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish highlighted India’s close relations with Vietnam, which originated from struggles for liberty led by Mahatma Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh.
Bilateral cooperation in defence–security, economics, science–technology, human resources–training, and culture are all thriving, he said.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vu Hong Nam congratulated the Indian government and people on their achievements over recent years.
He expressed his belief that the 1.2-billion-strong country will reap more achievements under the leadership of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nam underlined the two nation’s cultural similarities and strong connectivity as firm foundations for friendship.
In the 1960s Vietnam’s President Ho Chi Minh and India’s Prime Minister Jawarhalal Nehru set a foundation for bilateral relations, which were nurtured by later generations of leaders and people of the two countries, he said.
Vietnam and India have demonstrated their long-standing amity at regional and international forums by supporting each other and sharing common ground in several issues, including strategic security matters in Asia-Pacific, he added.
Since the establishment of the bilateral strategic partnership in 2007, the two nations have deepened collaboration, he said, citing two-way trade reaching more than 5 billion USD in 2015, and 2.6 billion USD in the first six months of 2016.
India is running 128 investment projects in Vietnam, in fields such as oil and gas, energy, information technology, banking and finance, he noted.-VNA
