Parliament chairman arrives in New Delhi to boost Vietnam-India relations

The Vietnam-India relations are expected to get a boost when Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly (NA) Vuong Dinh Hue pays a four-day visit starting on December 15 to the South Asian country.

Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue arrives at Palam military airport in New Delhi on Dec 15. Photos: VNA

The visit is aimed to enhance multisectoral relations ahead of the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties in 2022 with a focus on politics, defense-security to economy-trade-investment, culture, and people-to-people links.

At the same time, the visit will contribute to promoting cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau said, adding that India is a very large country with a federal system in which the parliament has a significant influence on foreign affairs. The support of the Indian parliament is the foundation for the effective development of bilateral relations.

Accordingly, the Parliament of India largely helps promote the Government of India’s Act East Policy (AEP), therefore, the visit will contribute to creating new impetus for the Vietnam-India relations.

In December 2016, Hue’s predecessor Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan visited India to strengthen bilateral ties and overall cooperation between the two countries.

Hue is scheduled to meet Speaker of Lok Sabha (Lower House) Om Birla, Vice President and Rajya Sabha (Upper House) Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He will attend the celebrations marking five years of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, a photo exhibition on the 50th anniversary of the bilateral ties, welcome friendship associations and friends of Vietnam, and the Vietnamese community in India.

On this occasion, Hue will attend a business summit and visit some Indian corporations for investment promotion.

Chairman of Vietnam’s National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue (L) and Chairperson of the Standing Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs Shri P.P Chaudhary on Dec 15.

Relations

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau said the two countries have long-standing relations with over 2,000 years associated with the spread of Buddhism in Vietnam.

Veeramalla Anjaiah is a Jakarta-based senior journalist named India, the second most populous country in the world, a trusted old friend of Vietnam.

While travel was curtailed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the two countries had continued contacts at the highest levels.

Chau described the Vietnam-India relations as traditional and friendship with strategic trust, people-to-people links, and cultural similarities. 

The bilateral relations have prospered in all fields including inter-parliament cooperation. In this context, the visit is aimed at expanding new prospects for legislative cooperation, an important field of the bilateral Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, and strengthening cooperation between the two countries at multilateral forums.

Both countries have similar views about various international issues. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in April 2021 that Vietnam and India share a similar vision of an open, inclusive, peaceful, and rules-based world order and the strategic Indian Ocean Region. He emphasized that the India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership can contribute to promoting regional stability, prosperity, and development.

At the virtual summit held last December, PM Narendra Modi said that Vietnam is an important pillar of India’s Act East policy and a vital partner of its Indo-Pacific Vision. On that occasion, the two sides signed seven pacts across key sectors including defense and energy, and released a joint vision for peace and prosperity eyeing to contribute to the South China Sea region’s stability.

In terms of economic cooperation, the two sides are expected to ink several memoranda of understandings (MOUs) in pharmaceutical, healthcare, communications, science and technology, environment, and energy sectors.

Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau believed that Hue’s visit would result in a boom in investment from India to Vietnam.

The two-way trade, from a meager US$200 million in 2000, reached $11.12 billion in 2020, with Indian exports to Vietnam amounting to $4.9 billion and Indian imports from Vietnam at $6.1 billion.

Vietnam is India’s 15th largest trading partner globally and 4th largest within ASEAN, following Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. On the other hand, India is Vietnam’s 10th largest trading partner globally.

India’s investments in Vietnam are estimated at around $1.9 billion including investments routed through third countries. Vietnam is a manufacturing powerhouse with a focus on the production of smartphones and computer parts.

India has a long-standing development partnership with Vietnam that has made positive contributions towards capacity building, Sustainable Development Goals, and socioeconomic development of Vietnam. India has also been providing assistance to Vietnam within the ASEAN framework.

The economic growth in Vietnam has created a rising middle-class that is both tech-savvy and creative. Vietnam’s policymakers are pushing forward with the development of the digital economy, with ambitious goals of making it account for 30% of GDP by 2030.