Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar expressed his deep condolences to the Party, State, Government and People of Vietnam on the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, an outstanding leader and great friend of the Indian people. On behalf of the Government of India, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar respectfully thanked and warmly welcomed Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, one of the first foreign leaders to pay a State visit to India since the re-election of the third-term government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi; affirmed that the Indian Government attached great importance to the visit and believed that the visit would bring strong momentum to the Vietnam-India relationship in the coming time. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh respectfully thanked the senior leaders of India for sending their condolences and sending a delegation to Vietnam to pay their respects to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. The Prime Minister appreciated the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and Minister S. Jaishankar personally for their efforts to closely coordinate with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Embassy in India to carefully prepare for the visit in a very short time, carefully arranging important meetings for the visit. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh welcomed the two Foreign Ministers for successfully co-chairing the 18th Vietnam - India Joint Committee (September 2023), an important preparation step for the visit as well as efforts to complete the Action Program to implement the Vietnam - India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the period 2024 - 2028 with many new initiatives. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hoped that through this visit, the relationship between the two countries will enter a new period of trust, deeper understanding, and higher efficiency, meeting the aspirations of the leaders and people of the two countries.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh receives Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Photo: Duong Giang/VNA

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hopes to discuss with the Indian side the key areas of cooperation in the coming time, including exchanges of high-level delegations and all levels, local exchanges, and people-to-people exchanges; strengthening economic - trade - investment cooperation, soon increasing bilateral trade turnover to 20 billion USD; expanding cooperation to new areas such as green transformation, digital transformation, innovation, semiconductor chips, artificial intelligence, etc. The Prime Minister asked the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs to focus on coordinating with relevant ministries and branches in reviewing and implementing high-level agreements. The two sides also agreed to continue cooperation at regional and international forums, and agreed to support ASEAN's stance on the East Sea. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar thanked Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for his profound instructions and support for the bilateral relationship, affirming that he will strive to cooperate with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote Vietnam - India relations in the coming time.