HÀ NỘI — The people-to-people network between Việt Nam and India – one of the oldest such networks in Asia and the Indo-Pacific – is the foundation of the partnership between the two countries, said Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday to deputies of the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA).

Expressing his honour to be addressing the NA and the people of Việt Nam, the leader shared that this visit was his first trip to an ASEAN country in his capacity as President of India and also his first State visit to any nation to the East of India.

Affirming the special meaning of the friendship between Việt Nam and India, he said, “Việt Nam is always on our minds, and always in our hearts. It is pivotal to India’s ‘Act East’ policy.”

"2019 is of great significance, as India marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Việt Nam commemorates the 50th anniversary of the passing of the great Hồ Chí Minh," he said.

"These revolutionary figures remain inspirations for not just Việt Nam and India, but for the entire Asian continent and the global community." He said the coming year would once again link these two remarkable personalities and unite the two countries.

Mentioning India’s achievements in start-up ecosystems, President Ram Nath Kovind said that India would be happy to share its developmental experiences with Việt Nam.

He said Việt Nam and India shared a vision for the Indo-Pacific Region, in which the East Sea (South China Sea) is a critical component.

“We share a vision of a rules-based order that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity, ensures freedom of navigation as well as un-impeded commerce,” he said. “Our shared vision seeks peaceful resolution of disputes, with full respect for legal and diplomatic processes in accordance with principles of international law, including those reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

He said India looked forward to enhanced bilateral co-operation in the maritime domain – for instance, through the first Bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue between the two nations, to be hosted by Việt Nam in early 2019.

“There is scope for co-operation in textiles, agriculture and agricultural technologies, in bio-tech and IT, in energy and pharmaceuticals and in infrastructure and minerals,” he said. “Indian investors, manufacturers and services providers look to Việt Nam with much excitement.”

“India offers a co-operation model that does not require its friends to make choices but rather expands choices and opportunities for all; it opens not one but many roads,” he said.

Expressing the NA’s thankfulness to the Indian leader for his address, NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân said the Việt Nam-India comprehensive strategic partnership has witnessed growth with political trust being strengthened through regular high-level visits of Party, State and NA officials as well as exchanges at the provincial. She affirmed the NA would do its utmost to collaborate with India’s Parliament to consolidate the friendship between the two countries for the mutual benefit of the two peoples as well as for regional and global peace, prosperity, co-operation and development. — VNS