Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau said that during a recent interview granted to reporters of the People’s Army Newspaper on the sidelines of the ongoing MILAN 2022 in Visakhapatnam city, India.
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Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau is briefed on the 016-Quang Trung. |
During the conversation, the Vietnamese diplomat recalled important milestones in the relationship between the two countries. He said that Vietnam and India basically started their relations around 2,000 years ago through trading activities and the introduction of culture and Buddhism. During the resistance war for national independence, although the two countries took two different paths, they shared sympathy for one another to overcome hard times.
The Ambassador said that it was President Ho Chi Minh, National Hero Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that had laid foundation for the special relationship between Vietnam and India. He recalled that a few weeks after Hanoi was liberated from the French colonialism, the first foreign state leader to visit Hanoi was Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. A few years later, President Ho Chi Minh paid a visit to India, and then Indian President had a tour to Vietnam.
Since the two countries established their diplomatic ties in 1972, the bilateral relations have seen remarkable development. Vietnam is one of the major pillars in India's Act East Policy and always considers India its traditional friend. India has become one of the three top comprehensive strategic partners of Vietnam.
Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau evaluated that the Vietnam-India relations is strongly developing in terms of politics, defense-security, economy-trade-investment-tourism, science technology, and people-to-people diplomacy. Among these five cooperation fields, the bilateral defense ties, especially naval cooperation, have left remarkable milestones. This has been proven through the regular exchange of visits of naval ships and their active participation in each country’s activities.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic waged Ho Chi Minh City, the Indian Navy unexpectedly sent a ship to Vietnam. That was the first foreign ship transporting medicine and oxygen cylinders to support the Vietnamese people in the pandemic fight. Apart from that, the naval forces of the two countries have fostered cooperation in various fields, including training.
Regarding the participation of Vietnamese naval delegation in MILAN 2022, the Vietnamese diplomat said that the host highly appreciated Vietnam’s attendance in the event.
He recalled that in recent meetings, the Chief of the Indian Navy and Commander of the Eastern Fleet expressed their thanks to Vietnam for sending ships to participate in MILAN 2022. Vietnam’s participation in the event demonstrates its appreciation of India’s invitation. In response to the invitation, Frigate 016-Quang Trung has made a nine-day long journey covering the total length of 2,300 nautical miles to reach India to be part of the exercise. This is the first time that Vietnam has sent a ship to join the exercise after a long time serving as an observer.
According to Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau, after its participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations in South Sudan and Central Africa and in the International Army Games in Russia, Vietnam now takes part in MILAN 2022. This proves the development in defense diplomacy of Vietnam, contributing to affirming the strength of defense diplomacy in particular and diplomatic sector in general.
As head of the Vietnamese diplomatic mission in India, Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau promised to continue fostering the bilateral relations, especially defense cooperation. He revealed that the two sides have planned to build a pharmaceutical park in Vietnam in an effort to turn Vietnam into the second largest drug producer after India. It is expected to attract around 140 famous pharmaceutical companies in the world and India to invest in the project.
In addition to that, India's HCL Technologies has officially invested in Vietnam. It is expected that the group will help Vietnam become a service provider and software technology and artificial intelligence developer, said Ambassador Chau.
The diplomat pledged to expand cooperation in training and continue mobilizing Indian students to study medicine in Vietnam.
Translated by Tran Hoai