National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue (R) receives India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in April 2022. (Photo: Doan Tan/VNA)

From “Bilateral Relations” to “Strategic Partnership” to now a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”, the two countries have always shared close diplomatic ties which is a result of their shared experience of national struggles for independence.

Despite having different political systems, there has been numerous high-level diplomatic visits and India has time and again played a key role in supporting Vietnam’s independence and unification or committing to providing assistance in advancing Vietnam’s defence in the present decade. The article said Vietnam is a vital and strategic partner for India.

It highlighted economic and trade cooperation as a very important part of India-Vietnam relations, noting that India is the most important market for Vietnam, accounting for 80% of Vietnam’s total trade with South Asian nations.

India’s Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla mentioned the desire to increase bilateral trade to reach 15 billion USD from the previous 13.2 billion USD, while admiring the growth of Vietnam in a variety of economic sectors.

Currently the two countries are implementing the 2021-2023 Action Program that aims to implement all the agreements and discussions that took place in official meetings.

It reiterated that “the relationship is a longstanding one with deep understanding of each other’s needs and a mutual sense of respect. With a pending invite for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and policies that expand years, the sky continues to be as clear as it was in 1980”.