Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi on Friday night, to hold talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc for closer ties in key areas of defence, security, trade and oil exploration.
"Reached Hanoi. This is a special visit & will go a long way in deepening the strong bond between India & Vietnam," tweeted Prime Minister Modi after reaching Vietnam.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Modi after bilateral talks with Phuc, will also meet President Tran Dai Quang.
Before leaving for the visit, in a series of posts from his Facebook account the Prime Minister said:
"Greetings to the people of Vietnam on their National Day. Vietnam is a friendly nation with whom we cherish our relationship.
Today evening, I will reach Hanoi in Vietnam, marking the start of a very important visit that will further cement the close bond between India and Vietnam. My Government attaches a high priority to our bilateral relations with Vietnam. The India-Vietnam partnership will benefit Asia and the rest of the world.
Also Read
During the visit, I will hold extensive discussions with Prime Minister Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc. We will review complete spectrum of our bilateral relationship.
I will also meet the President of Vietnam, Mr. Tran Dai Quang, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong; and the Chairperson of the National Assembly of Vietnam, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.
We wish to forge a strong economic relationship with Vietnam that can mutually benefit our citizens. Strengthening the people-to-people ties will also be an my endeavour during the Vietnam visit.
In Vietnam, I will have the opportunity to pay homage to Ho Chi Minh, one of 20th century's tallest leaders. I will lay a wreath at the Monument of National Heroes and Martyrs as well as visit the Quan Su Pagoda."
Prime Minister Modi will leave for Hangzhou, China, from Vietnam in the evening on Saturday to attend the G-20 Summit on September 4 and 5.
"During the G-20 Summit, I will have an opportunity to engage with other world leaders on pressing international priorities and challenges. We will discuss putting the global economy on the track of sustainable steady growth and responding to emerging and entrenched social, security and economic challenges.
India will engage constructively on all the issues before us and work towards finding solutions and taking forward the agenda for a robust, inclusive and sustainable international economic order that uplifts the socio-economic conditions of people across the world, especially those who need it most in developing countries.
I look forward to a productive and outcome oriented Summit," he posted.
On the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister will also have bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. It would be the first meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Jinping after their meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Uzbekistan capital Tashkent, where the former had urged China to make a "fair and objective" assessment of India's application on merit for India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
On August 12, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited New Delhi possibly to firm up the agenda for the talks between President Jinping and Prime Minister Modi.
According to a report in China's state-owned Global Times, Foreign Minister Yi may also use his visit to New Delhi to acquire a perspective and an assessment of Prime Minister Modi's visits to Vietnam and Laos.
According to reports, Beijing is viewing Prime Minister Modi's visit to Vietnam rather closely, given that Hanoi is also a party in the South China Sea dispute and has also staked a maritime and rich energy resource claim to use of its waters.
The Prime Minister will also attend a BRICS leaders' meet and will return to India on September 5.
On September 7, Prime Minister Modi will leave for Laos PDR on a two-day visit to attend the annual India-ASEAN and East Asia summits.
At the ASEAN-India Summit, the Prime Minister and ASEAN leaders will review ASEAN-India cooperation and discuss its future direction in the areas of politico-security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation. The leaders will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest and concern.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content