Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan hailed India for seeing Vietnam as a priority in its “Act East” policy, and said Vietnam always attaches importance to developing its comprehensive strategic partnership with India, considering India a partner of top importance and a trustworthy friend. Speaking at a ceremony marking 50 years of Vietnam-India diplomatic ties in Hanoi on Thursday, the Vice President expressed her belief that on the solid foundation of the past five decades and the strong determination of the two countries’ leaders and people, bilateral ties will continue to develop.

“Vietnam and India need to enhance cooperation in priority fields such as information technology, innovation, energy, and digital transformation. Further attention should be paid to cooperation in health care, tourism, green economy, climate change response, culture, and people-to-people exchange for sustainable development of the two countries following the pandemic,” she said.

In a pre-recorded speech, Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu noted Vietnam’s role in supporting India’s outreach efforts on a rules-based order in the region, including through maintenance of international law. The Indian vice president expressed his firm belief that the two countries will continue to cooperate on the basis of the similarities in ASEAN’s Indo-Pacific Outlook and India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

Source: VOV5