Hanoi (VNA)– Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Indian ForeignMinister Sushma Swaraj co-chaired the 16th Meeting of the Vietnam-India JointCommittee on Economic, Commercial, Scientific, and Technological Cooperation inHanoi on August 28.

In their remarks atthe meeting, Minh and Swaraj praised the long-standing relations betweenVietnam and India, highlighting that the bilateral ties have made significantprogress with several important milestones since the last joint committee’smeeting in 2013.

The two countrieslifted their relations to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in September2016 and successfully hosted the Vietnam-India Friendship Year 2017 tocelebrate the 45th anniversary of their diplomatic ties and the 10th year oftheir strategic partnership.

Political trust hasbeen consolidated through exchanged visits by top leaders of the two sides,they said.

They agreed to promotethe visit of Indian top leaders to Vietnam at the earliest convenience andmaintain a regular exchange of visits at all levels to implement the ActionPlan of the Vietnam-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the period of2017 – 2020.

They also agreed toaccelerate the promotion of Indian investment in Vietnam in priority areas suchas power, renewable energy, and high-tech agriculture; together with Vietnameseinvestment in India in the fields of agriculture, farm produce , and aquaticand timber product processing. They both affirmed that the two countries willcontinue their long-term cooperation in oil and gas, while also seekingcollaboration from a third country.

Minh highlyappreciated India’s continued provision of non-refundable development aid, softcredit packages, and exclusively designed courses for Vietnamese personnel.

Meanwhile, Swaraj saidshe is proud to see more and more Vietnamese people pursuing education inIndia, particularly in technological studies.

The two sides spoke highlyof bilateral cooperation in the growing fields of science and technology,culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchange, while at the same timestressed the necessity to set up joint working groups on agriculture, informationand communications, healthcare, and information technology, as well as fosternegotiations on judicial cooperation.

They hailed the twonations’ close coordination and support for each other at regional andinternational forums, notably in the United Nations and within the framework ofthe ASEAN-India partnership and other ASEAN-orientated mechanisms.

Minh welcomed theactive role of India and its position in the Indo-Pacific region through its “ActEast” policy, while the Indian official highly valued Vietnam’s role as a coordinatorfor promoting ASEAN-India ties between 2015-2018, saying she is looking forwardto Vietnam’s continued cooperation in implementing commitments from the DelhiDeclaration (issued at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in January thisyear).

Both officialsreaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety,and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, adding that they backedthe settlement of disputes based on international law and without use of forceor threat to use force. They also called on involved parties not to complicatethe situation in the area and to effectively enforce the Declaration on theConduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and soon conclude the Code of Conduct(COC) in the East Sea.

On the occasion, thePeople’s Committee of Ninh Thuan province and the Embassy of India signed amemorandum of understanding for the implementation of seven projects that aimto provide support for Cham people in the province.

The 17th Meeting ofthe Vietnam-India Joint Committee is scheduled to take place in India in 2020.–VNA