Party leader and President Nguyen Phu Trong (R) and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind at a joint press conference in Hanoi on November 20, 2018.

Party leader and President Nguyen Phu Trong and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind announced the result of their talks at a joint press conference in Hanoi on Tuesday.

Both sides described defense and security as some of the important pillars in bilateral ties and pledged to elevate two-way trade to 15 billion USD in the near future. They praised cooperation between the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India in oil exploration and exploitation in Vietnam. Mr. Trong welcomed India’s “Act East” policy and spoke highly of its support for ASEAN’s central role in the regional structure.

The two leaders stressed the importance of building the Indo-Asia-Pacific region’s  peace and prosperity, based on respect for sovereignty, international law, and freedom of aviation and navigation.

Addressing the Vietnamese National Assembly the same day, President Kovind said India and Vietnam will continue to cooperate in addressing emerging challenges including cybersecurity.

“Enhancing business relations and fiscal connectivity between our countries is vital for this. We are both dynamic economies. Vietnam has had an impressive export driven growth and India is today the world’s fastest growing large economy. Bilateral trade touched 12.8 billion USD in the past year and India is one of Vietnam’s top 10 trading partners. For India too, Vietnam and ASEAN are crucial to its trade basket,” said President Kovind.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan meets Indian President Ram Nath Kovind.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan hailed India’s socio-economic progress and growing status in the world. She said Vietnam and India are enjoying a fruitful  comprehensive strategic partnership.

“Vietnam-India ties have stood the test of time and been reinforced to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Vietnamese National Assembly will work closely with the Parliament of India to boost the time-honored friendship between our two countries,” Madam Ngan said.