India and Vietnam ink 12 agreements in different areas of cooperation

India and Vietnam have signed 12 agreements in different areas of cooperation to boost bilateral relations.
These agreements were signed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi.
This was the first bilateral Prime Ministerial visit from India to Vietnam in 15 years since the visit of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001.
The agreements were signed in the fields of

• Exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, double taxation avoidance, co-operation on UN peacekeeping operation.
• Health, cyber security, advanced IT training, sharing of shipping information between the Navies of the two countries and mutual recognition of standards.

PM Narendra Modi also announced a line of credit (LoC) of 500 million US Dollars to Vietnam to facilitate deeper defence cooperation. The LoC will be used by India’s L&T to build offshore high speed patrol boats for Vietnamese Coast Guards.
Elevation of bilateral relations to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

• Besides, India and Vietnam also have agreed to elevate bilateral relations from Strategic Partnership to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
• This was announced in a joint press statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi.

The two countries also agreed to celebrate 2017 as the Year of Friendship. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the 15th century QUAN SU PAGODA in Hanoi, the headquarters of Buddhist Sangha of Vietnam.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2016