The multifarious relations between India and Vietnam are deepening bythe day and are branching out in new directions, says an article on theIndian External Affairs Ministry's website on August 25.

The article, written by Indian Writes Network's Editor in ChiefManish Chand, described the relations as a perfect match in many waysbetween India’s Look East policy and Vietnam’s Look West policy as thetwo countries aim high to forge closer strategic, economic and energyties in days to come.

The author noted that therelations between India and Vietnam have been exceptionally friendly,and virtually free of any dissonance or friction. The ties, which goback to the ancient Cham civilisation when people from Orissa travelledto Vietnam and found a hospitable home there, mingling cultures,customs, language and beliefs, were built on robust foundations laiddown by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Vietnam’siconic leader Ho Chi Minh, and have grown exponentially over the years.

He underlined a new energy and synergy betweenAsia’s third largest economy and Southeast Asia’s emerging economy.Bilateral trade is estimated to be at 8 billion USD. The two sides arenow looking to scale up bilateral trade to 15 billion USD by 2020.

According to the article, Vietnam is an attractive destination forhordes of Indian companies. India has already 68 operational projects inVietnam worth around 1 billion USD. Indian investments encompassdiverse sectors, including oil and gas exploration, mineral explorationand processing, sugar manufacturing, agro-chemicals, IT, andagricultural processing.

Vietnamese companies, too,are stepping up their footprints in India. Vietnam has three investmentprojects in India with total investment of 23.6 million USD.

The strategic and defence ties between India and Vietnam have acquireda new force and dimension, the article said, noting that advocating arule-based order and freedom of navigation, India has pressed for theresolution of the South China Sea (which is called East Sea in Vietnam)dispute in accordance with the UN Laws of the Sea. This position wasreiterated by India’s external affairs minister at India-ASEAN and ARFmeetings in Myanmar. Besides, India and Vietnam see their growingrelations as part of the larger drive for regional peace and stability.This is reflected in their close cooperation in a host of regional fora,including ASEAN, East Asia Summit, Mekong Ganga Cooperation and theAsia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

In addition, Indiaand Vietnam also enjoy a burgeoning development partnership in IT,education and frontier areas of science and technology, the articlesaid, citing India’s provision of credit of around 165 million USD for ahost of infrastructure projects and scholarships to hundreds ofVietnamese students annually. India has agreed to help set up theIndira Gandhi High-tech Cyber Forensic Laboratory in Hanoi and aVietnam-India English and IT Training Centre at the National DefenceAcademy of Vietnam. Top IT bellwethers, including NIIT, APTECH and TataInfotech, have opened more than 80 franchised centers spread all acrossVietnam. In November last year, India gifted a high-power supercomputerto Vietnam.

With the first direct flight betweenDelhi and Ho Chi Minh City set to take off in November, people-to-peoplecontacts, travel and tourism are poised for an upswing.

The article affirmed that in the days to come, the only way for theDelhi-Hanoi relationship is to go up, opening new vistas andopportunities for a mutually invigorating and empowering partnership.-VNA