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Vietnam important partner in India's ‘Act-East policy’: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that both sides will work towards a free and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
India and Vietnam adopted a new action plan on Thursday, to expand their strategic ties.
After holding wide-ranging talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India and Vietnam will continue their cooperation for a free, open, rules-based and prosperous Indo-Pacific. He also added that New Delhi supports development and not "expansionism".
"Vietnam is our important partner in our Act East Policy and our Indo-Pacific vision. There is good coordination between our views regarding the Indo-Pacific. We support evolution, not expansionism. We will continue our cooperation for a free, open, rules-based and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Modi said.
After holding talks with his Vietnamese counterpart, PM Modi said that they held discussions on all areas of cooperation and took several measures to prepare a roadmap for the future.
Modi said that the development in the two nations has gained momentum due to India's Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and Vietnam's 2045 vision.
“In our discussions today, we extensively discussed all areas of mutual cooperation and took several steps to prepare a roadmap for the future. We believe that due to India's 'Viksit Bharat 2047 vision and Vietnam's 2045 vision, development has gained momentum in both countries,” Modi said.
“This is opening up many new areas of mutual cooperation and therefore, today we have made a new Plan of Action to further strengthen our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. New steps have been taken for cooperation in the field of defence and security.”
Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the strategic partnership between Vietnam and India has entered a new era. He also invited PM Modi to visit Vietnam.
"...We've decided to be part of India's CDRI (Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure). We also agreed to establish a deputy foreign ministerial level for the economic diplomacy dialogue. The two sides redoubled the importance of ensuring peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation... in the South China Sea. And a peaceful settlement of disputes based on respecting international law, especially UNCLOS 1982. We agreed to share information and work together to make the South China Sea- waters of peace, stability, friendship, cooperation..." the Vietnamese prime minister said.
Chinh arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night on a three-day visit. This is the first visit by a Vietnamese premier to India in a decade, and also the first prime ministerial visit since the two sides upgraded their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016.
