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Indian President begins State visit to VN

VGP – Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday began his three-day State visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of State President Nguyen Phu Trong.

November 18, 2018 8:42 PM GMT+7

Indian President Shri Ram Nath Kovind

This is his first visit to Viet Nam since he became President of India in July last year.

A ceremonial reception for the Indian President will take place at the Presidential Palace, followed by talks between the Presidents of Viet Nam and India.

President Shri Ram Nath Kovind is also expected to meet with PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, address the National Assembly, and attend the Viet Nam-India Business Forum.

The visit will create new impetus for the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, said Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau.

The diplomat said both countries have maintained regular exchange of high-level visits and shared common views on a wide range of strategic issues, thus creating firm foundations for advancing the bilateral ties in a practical and vivid manner.

Viet Nam has always regarded India as a trusted friend, supporting the country to take greater role in cooperation with ASEAN, according to Chau.

India is now one of Viet Nam’s biggest trade partner with the two way-trade volume reaching US$12.83 billion, up 26.96% against the previous year, according to Indian statistics.

The two sides set goal to increase the trade value to US$15 billion by 2020.

Viet Nam and India established diplomatic ties in January 1972, upgrading the bilateral ties to strategic partnership and comprehensive strategic partnership in 2007 and 2016, respectively./.

By Quang Minh