Vietnamese PM Dung to visit India from Monday

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will pay a two-day state visit to India from October 27.

"The programme for the visit includes of course the visit to Bodh Gaya and a meeting with Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on 27th. On 27th evening itself, the Vietnamese Prime Minister will come over the Delhi. On 28th, his programme will begin with a forecourt ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, following which, he will visit Rajghat to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi, and the visiting dignitary will have a series of calls," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

"The External Affairs Minister will call on him, and so will the Speaker of Lok Sabha. Prime Minister and the visiting dignitary will have meetings in Hyderabad House. These will be both in restricted format as well as delegation level talks following which the Prime Minister will host a banquet for him. In the evening, he will also call on the Vice-President and the President of India before he departs," he said.

"We see this visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister to India as an opportunity to consolidate further and strengthen our relationship with one of our strongest and most friendly partners in the ASEAN," he added.

This is the Vietnamese Prime Minister's third visit to India. During his visit in 2007, the MEA had issued the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership with Vietnam.

In 2012, Nguyen Tan Dung had come to India as part of the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit that had been held in New Delhi. President Pranab Mukherjee had visited Vietnam last month.