Vietnam PM to visit India on Oct. 27-28

Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will make a state visit to India on October 27 and 28.

"India and Vietnam relations have been characterised by high-level state visits. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will travel to India on October 27 and 28, and this will be his third state visit to India after travelling here in 2007 and 2012," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told mediapersons here.

Speaking of the close relations between New Delhi and Hanoi, Syed Akbaruddin also spoke of the parabolic growth in trade between the two nations.

"Our ties with Vietnam are robust and growing. Our trade with Vietnam in 2013-14 was USD eight billion, with a growth of over 30 percent from the previous year. The two countries have excellent relations in the international forums and Hanoi supports India's nomination for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. We see this visit by the Vietnamese Prime Minister as an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with one of our strongest and most friendly partner in ASEAN," he said.

Speaking of Prime Minister Dung's itinerary during his visit to India, Akbaruddin confirmed that the Communist Party of Vietnam leader will hold bilateral talks during his stay.

"Prime Minister Dung will meet the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and the Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. He will also hold meetings in Hyderabad House in the city, where some appointments will be in restricted format, and others will be delegation level talks," Akbaruddin said.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host a banquet for his Vietnamese counterpart. Before departing, Prime Minister Dung will also meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Vice President Hamid Ansari," he added.

Prime Minister Dung's visit to India comes after President Mukherjee travelled to Vietnam last month and Swaraj made a three-day tour of Hanoi in August this year.