Vietnamese, Indian leaders exchange congratulatory letters

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Quoc Dung and Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Pranay Verma in Hanoi on January 7 exchanged letters of congratulations by Vietnamese and Indian leaders on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties (January 7).

Illustrative image (Photo: thedispatch.in)
Illustrative image (Photo: thedispatch.in)

The letters were written by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his counterpart Narendra Modi, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) Venkaiah Naidu, and Speaker of the the Lok Sabha (House of Representatives) Om Birla.

In the letters, the Vietnamese leaders expressed their delight at traditional friendship between Vietnam and India over the past five decades, saying that the two countries have become friends and trustworthy partners of each other, and the adoption of the Vietnam-India Joint Vision Statement for Peace, Prosperity and People has created new driving forces for bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership in various areas, thus bringing practical benefits to the two Governments and peoples.

They were also satisfied with strong mutual support at regional and global forums, especially in 2021 when the two nations were non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

The Indian leaders stressed that though India and Vietnam established diplomatic ties in 1972, they formed exchanges and connections in civilisation and culture thousands of years ago. They have continued the tradition of close collaboration in the cause of national construction and development today.

Particularly, the upgrade of bilateral ties to the comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016 reflected deep trust and sharing of common values and interests as well as affirmed wish and determination to further strengthen bilateral ties, they said.

On the occasion, Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son exchange his congratulatory message with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.