New Delhi: India – Vietnam Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People
H.E. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of the Republic of India and H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam co-chaired a Virtual Summit on 21 December 2020, during which they exchanged views on wide-ranging bilateral, regional and global issues and set forth the following Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People to guide the future development of India – Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership:
Peace
Reaffirming their mutual desire to further strengthen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the leaders agreed to step up regular high-level and institutionalized exchanges building upon the foundations of deep-rooted historical and cultural bonds, shared values and interests, mutual strategic trust and understanding and shared commitment to international law. They will add new substance and impetus to bilateral cooperation in all areas of engagement, support each other’s national development and work towards achieving a peaceful, stable, secure, free, open, inclusive and rules-based region.
Prosperity
Acknowledging the new challenges as well as opportunities brought upon by COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides will work towards reliable, efficient and resilient supply chains, and will promote human-centric globalization. They will strive to achieve the target of US$15 billion of trade turnover at the earliest and will set higher levels of ambition for bilateral trade based on a concrete plan of action and new supply chains located in each other’s country.
People
Emphasizing the deep cultural and historical bonds between India and Vietnam, the two sides will commemorate and promote understanding and research of their shared cultural and civilizational heritage, including Buddhist and Cham cultures, traditions and ancient scriptures. Cooperation in conservation of shared cultural heritage will be pursued as a key pillar of their development partnership. Traditional systems of medicine are of great significance for both countries in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 and 3. Owing to cultural exchange between the two countries for past thousands of years, the traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda and Vietnam-Traditional Medicine share many common threads of rich knowledge of health. Yoga has emerged as symbol of peace and harmony and shared pursuit of spiritual wellbeing and happiness. Both the countries are committed to cooperate on strengthening the traditional systems of medicine and their evidence-based integration for the well-being of people. Both sides will actively cooperate to publish an Encyclopaedia of India – Vietnam Cultural and Civilizational Relations to mark the 50th anniversary of India – Vietnam diplomatic relations in 2022.
Both Prime Ministers expressed confidence that their above shared Vision will serve as a cornerstone for a new era of India – Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. In order to realize this vision, concrete Plans of Action will be worked out by the two sides periodically, beginning that for 2021-2023.