Modi holds telephonic talks with Vietnamese PM Xuan Phuc; discusses COVID19

Prime Narendra Modi on Monday held a telephonic conversation with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc, focussing on potential areas for bilateral collaboration in fighting the coronavirus pandemic including supply of medical equipment.

The prime minister spoke to Phuc as part of his engagement with world leaders over the pandemic which has infected over 1.8 million people and claimed lives of around 1,10,000 besides wrecking economies in almost all parts of the globe.

Vietnam's efforts to deal with the pandemic with limited resources by primarily focusing on quarantining infected people and carrying out a major contact tracing exercise of suspected cases earned praise globally.

"Both the leaders agreed that their teams would remain in touch in the coming days for coordination on the pandemic response measures as well as other aspects of bilateral relations," the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement after Modi-Phuc conversation.

Vietnam has reported around 270 cases of coronavirus.

The MEA said the two leaders discussed the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the steps being taken to address this challenge.

"The leaders agreed on the potential for bilateral collaboration in fighting COVID-19, including for facilitating supplies of required medical equipment. They also committed to provide necessary support to each other's citizens present in their territories," the MEA said.

It said the two prime ministers stressed the importance of the strategic partnership between India and Vietnam, and expressed satisfaction over the recent progress on various fronts.

"They also reviewed regional and international developments," it added.

Modi conveyed his best wishes for the health and wellbeing of the Vietnamese people in the wake of the crisis.

In the last few days, the prime minister has held telephonic conversations with US President Donald Trump, Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, focusing on the need for concerted global efforts to deal with the crisis.

Modi also spoke to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarik and Prime Minister of Sweden Stefan Lofven among others.