Indian President welcomed in Da Nang

Secretary of the Party Committee of Da Nang city Truong Quang Nghia on November 18 had a meeting with Indian President Ram Nath Kovind, who is on a State visit to Vietnam at the invitation of General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Da Nang city Truong Quang Nghia had a meeting with Indian President Ram Nath Kovind on November 18. (Photo: VNA)

At the meeting, the two sides discussed the cooperation between Da Nang and other localities in India. Over the years, the central city of Vietnam has welcomed many delegations from Indian cities, associations and naval vessels.

In the first nine months of 2018, Da Nang’s export to India is estimated at USD 1.5 million, up 9 per cent over the same period in 2017. As of September 2018, Indian had registered two projects in Da Nang with a total investment of USD 13.5 million.

Annually, through the Indian Embassy in Vietnam, the Government of India offers scholarships to Da Nang’s officials in various fields such as short-term English training, information technology, environment and science within the framework of the Indian Economic and Technical Cooperation Programme (ITEC).

Over the past time, Da Nang has coordinated with the Indian Embassy in Vietnam and the Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City in organising cultural and art exchange programmes in the city.

The Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture and the National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology in India have signed a memorandum of understanding on the compilation and publication of the catalogue "Cham Sculpture of Vietnam and the relationship with Indian art", which studies 50 sculptures in the collection of the Da Nang museum.

The museum is collaborating with the National Museum of India in studying and compiling a book introducing the relationship between the Cham sculpture and the Indian art, which will be printed in India at the end of 2018.

As part of the educational cooperation programme between the two Governments, in 2007, the Government of India decided to fund an ODA project on the establishment of the Vietnam-India English Training Centre in Da Nang city. The centre was officially opened on February 14, 2009 at 186 Tran Phu street, Da Nang city.

Indian President Ram Nath Kovind then visited the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculpture and the world cultural heritage My Son Sanctuary in the neighbouring province of Quang Nam.

In Hanoi on November 20, the President will hold talks with General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee and President Nguyen Phu Trong, and meet National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

He will also deliver a speech at Vietnam’s legislature, becoming the second foreign leader to address the Vietnamese NA, after Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Vietnam and India set up their diplomatic ties on January 7, 1972. In 2007, the Vietnam-India relationship was lifted to strategic partnership level, with a focus on politics-diplomacy, national defence-security, economy-trade, energy, science-technology and culture-education.

Following the Vietnam’s visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2016, both sides upgraded their strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership to meet demand in the new situation.

In March this year, then President Tran Dai Quang and his spouse paid a State visit to India. The visit helped materialise contents of the Vietnam-India comprehensive strategic partnership while strengthening the bilateral relationship./.

VNF/VNA