National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) and Speaker of the Indian Lok Sabha (the lower house) Om Birla in a meeting in Hanoi in April 2022 (Photo: VNA).Hanoi (VNA) - The Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS) and the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) on May 26jointly organised a dialogue themed “Strengthening theVietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership".
Aspart of activities to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of bilateral diplomaticties and 5 years of the Vietnam – India comprehensivestrategic partnership, the third event of its kind aims to step up cooperationand connection between the two leading scientific research institutions,policy-making agencies, scientists and diplomats of the two countries, in newfields.
Inhis remarks, Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Rranay Verma said the two countrieshave been committed to addressing common challenges such as climate change andpoverty, towards promoting sustainable development and inclusive growth.
The two sides have similar views on many regional and international issues,which creates the basis for their closer cooperation in theregional and international arenas, he added.
Dr.Pham Cao Cuong, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Institute of Indian andSouthwest Asian Studies, said the two sides need to further enhance dialogueand people-to-people exchange, beef up trade cooperation, and promote mechanisms such as the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC).
Accordingto Dr. Temjenmeren Ao, a researcher from the ICWA, theelevation of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nationshas helped open new cooperation areas including aerospace, biotechnology,automobile industry, and renewable energy; and promoting the establishment of cooperationmechanisms in encryption technology, UN peacekeeping, and trade and investment.
Duringthe dialogue, delegates from the two countries focused their discussion on ways toexpand trade, cultural exchange, coordination in regional organisationsand forums between Vietnam and India.
India is one of the 10 largest trade partners of Vietnam with two-way tradeturnover growing by 20 percent annually, hitting more than 13 billionUSD in 2021.
Defenceand security cooperation has become an important pillar of the comprehensivestrategic partnership between the two countries with specific cooperation plansand programmes.
Traditionalcooperation fields such as education-training and agriculture have witnessed substantivedevelopment, while the cultural and tourism cooperation, and people-to-peopleexchange have been also promoted effectively./.
