Vietnam welcomes India’s role in the region, will balance power: Ambassador Thanh
New Delhi: With relations between India and Vietnam celebrating 45 yrs now and Indian Vietnam ties upgrading to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the future seems to be holding a lot of potential for the two nations. The rising power that India is, in not just South Asian region but with considerable clout in the Indo Pacific, power balance is more equal than before, opined Vietnam envoy to India, Ton Sinh Thanh.
India is one of the three nations with which Vietnam has Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the other two being China and Russia. It was during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit two years ago that the partnership was elevated to such a status. Different from CSP, Vitenam has Strategic Partnership with 11 countries. Vietnam boosts of US$ 2100 per capita per annum.
Regarding India’s role in the South Eastern region and the Indo Pacific for establishing peace and stability Vietnamese ambassador to India, Ton Sinh Thanh said, “India is moving fast, it is becoming a strong player in the region, and will now look over a bigger space in the Indo Asia Pacific region, its role will be played out in the extended neighbourhood. We welcome India’s new role and its engagement in the region, so does the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)’. Thanh said India’s increasing role and growing power will act as a balancing element in the region.
India and Vietnam commonalities abound as both countries are rapidly growing economies, the ambassador said. Vietnam’s growth rate last year was at 6.8 per cent and in the previous years, it has even touched 9 per cent. The ambassador said that while the defence ties were robust, the economic relation could still be taken much forward. And the cultural ties needed to be tapped. He informed Vietnam exports are more than the countrys GDP. The South eastern country is trading with more than 200 countries presently.
While India has objections to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Vietnam is still studying the various aspects of the initiative. “We have to figure out if it is good for us or not. If it is good, we will join it, if not, we will stay away from it,” he said. Unlike India, however, Vietnam had attended the big BRI meet that China organised last summer.
The ambassador said that India’s vision on the Indo-Pacific, which was revealed in Modi’s address at the Shangri-La Dialogue recently, was similar to Vietnam’s approach, which is about inclusiveness, openness and engagement rather than confrontation. “We, in fact, refer to the area as Indo Asia Pacific,” he said.
Vietnam has issues with the growing Chinese footprint in the South China Sea and it wants a rules based order to prevail (like India does). “Vietnam will raise its voice, asking for support from other countries, including those outside the region bcause so many vessels pass through the seas (which makes other nations also stakeholders).”
In the absence of direct flight from New Delhi to Hanoi tourist traffic to Vitenam and India is considerably poor. It is a roadblock that the two governments are working upon. The Ambassador informed that connectivity between the two capitals is being worked out and talks are being held.Currently, only Jet Airways operates flights to Ho Chi Minh City from New Delhi and Mumbai via Bangkok.
Vietnam is expecting 1,70,000 visitors this year, as per reports. The number of Indian tourists to Vietnam has risen from 16,000 in 2010 to an estimated 1,10,000 last year, he said and called for promoting India as a destination for Vietnamese. The envoy said 20 million Indians travel overseas every year, while only 90,000 of them go to visit Vietnam. Thanh said the first direct air service between Vietnam’s most populous city Ho Chi Minh City and New Delhi is likely to commence by the last quarter of this financial year.
