India’s Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Madan Mohan Sethi highlighted the cordial and friendly relationship between India and Vietnam, emphasizing their historical ties through civilization that spans over 2,000 years.
“More than 400 Indian companies, small and big have invested in Vietnam for a cumulative value of more than USD 1 billion,” he said.
He mentioned that both countries have collaborated in various areas, including trade, defense, and strategic cooperation.
He noted the increasing number of Indian tourists visiting Vietnam, with over 400,000 Indian tourists estimated to have visited the country in recent times.
“As far as the relationship between India and Vietnam is concerned, both countries enjoy a very cordial and friendly relationship,” Sethi said.
He said the two countries have a “historical connection through culture and civilizational roots going back to more than 2000 years. In recent times, we have cooperated with Vietnam in multiple areas including trade and commerce, defence and strategic areas.
He also mentioned a growing interest among Vietnamese travelers to explore India.
“But from last year June onwards, with more connection between cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, with our cities of India like Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmadabad and very recently Kochi, what we are witnessing that hundreds of Indian tourists are visiting Vietnam,” the Consul General said.
“So by one estimate, I think more than 400,000 Indian tourists have already visited Vietnam and we are also seeing a surge in the number of Vietnamese travelling to India,” he added.
As per Sethi, Vietnam has a relationship with India through yoga and Buddhism. “Nowadays we are promoting the Vietnamese provinces to visit Indian states to develop partnership and cooperation in multiple areas including higher education, IT, healthcare and tourism.”
He said: “India’s image has changed a lot in recent times due to the steps by the government of India under PM Modi. And perhaps more engagements have been made with a large number of countries in the last nine years. …But definitely there is more intense engagement with the countries, with our friendly countries and again countries of the south actually.”
Recently, the Defence Minister of Vietnam, General Phan Van Giang called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, according to a press release by the President’s Secretariat on Monday.
Welcoming General Giang and his delegation to India, the President said that India and Vietnam share a rich history of civilizational and cultural linkages spanning over 2000 years.
She added that Vietnam is an important pillar of India’s Act East Policy and a key partner of our Indo-Pacific Vision.
President Murmu noted that the India-Vietnam ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ has widened the range of bilateral collaboration including in defence and security cooperation, trade and investment relations, energy security, development cooperation, cultural and people-to-people relations.
