Vietnam seeks India's 'active support' on South China Sea row

As disputed South China Sea witnesses increased Chinese influence, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung today pitched for India's "active support" to peacefully resolve all disputes and sought its greater linkages across the region.
Tan, who will hold talks on a range of issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow, also made it clear that Vietnam has and will continue to allow ships from India. The remarks came a month after an Indian naval ship INS Airavat was asked to exit Chinese waters as it was approaching a Vietnamese port.
"The proper settlement of disputes in the East Sea for peace, stability, maritime security and safety and freedom of navigation in the region is in the common interest of countries in the region and beyond.

"In that spirit, Vietnam hopes that India, as a major power in the region and the world, will actively support the parties concerned to peacefully resolve all disputes, refrain from actions that may further complicate the situation, thus contributing to the maintenance of peace, stability, maritime security and safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea," the Vietnamese Prime Minister told PTI in an interview.
Noting that Vietnam always attaches great importance to the friendship and cooperation with all countries including China, Tan said,"Accordingly, Vietnam supports India to increase multi-dimensional linkages with South East Asia. For the purpose of friendship and exchange, we have and will continue to allow ships from other countries including India to visit Vietnam."

"Vietnam hopes that India, with its increasingly important role, will make positive and responsible contributions to the maintenance of peace and stability and the region and the world," he said.

The remarks may not go down well with China, which has been objecting to Indian presence in the disputed South China Sea in oil exploration projects. China had previously asked Indian naval assault vessel, INS Airavat, which was on a routine call at a Vietnam port and was travelling in open international waters in the South China Sea, to leave the waters terming them as "Chinese waters".
Making clear its position on the East Sea issue, Tan said Vietnam and other ASEAN countries have consistently underlined the importance of complying with international law, the 1982 UNCLOS and maintaining peace, stability, maritime security and safety and freedom of navigation in the East Sea.

Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve both island and maritime claims among seven sovereign states within the region -Brunei, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.