Call for greater India-Vietnam parliamentary exchanges

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called on Vietnam National Assembly Chairperson Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan here during the course of which both leaders called for greater parliamentary exchanges between India and Vietnam.

Sources here said that both leaders recalled the visit of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to Vietnam last year for the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference

"They called for greater parliamentary exchanges between the two countries," the sources said.

Ngan said that she would be visiting India in December.

She also recalled the long standing historical and cultural ties with India and said as a young girl she used to watch Indian films.

"They applauded the decision to upgrade the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," the sources said.

Earlier in the day, Modi held delegation-level talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc following which the two sides signed 12 agreements while giving a strong boost to bilateral defence ties and upgrading the bilateral relationship from Strategic Partnership to Strategic Partnership.

Following a luncheon hosted in his honour by Phuc, Modi visited the Quan Su Pagoda, also known as the Ambassadors' Pagoda, here.

Modi arrived here on Friday ahead of his visit to China to attend the G-20 Summit to be held on September 4-5.

This is the first bilateral prime ministerial visit from India to Vietnam in 15 years since the visit of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001.

--IANS

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