INDIA AND VIETNAM

• Vietnam has appointed Honorary Consul General of Vietnam in Bangalore to promote trade, economics, investment, tourism, educational and cultural cooperation between Vietnam and the State of Karnataka.
• Industrialist N.S. Srinivasa Murthy based in Bengaluru has been appointed as Honorary Consul General of Vietnam for Karnataka.
• He is the first honorary consul general of Vietnam from India. The appointment is for a period of three years.

Important points:

• History of Cultural Ties: Cultural and economic links between India and Vietnam date back to the 2nd century.
• Both the countries have agreed to have various commemorative activities in the year 2022, to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
• Even before official diplomatic ties were established in 1972, India supported Vietnam’s anti-colonial struggle during its independence movement.
• During the Cold War period, India supported Hanoi’s “Four Points” for resolving the Vietnam conflict (American war in Vietnam).
• India also supported Vietnam during the Kampuchea crisis (Cambodian–Vietnamese War) in the late 1970s.
• Look East Policy: The relationship was further strengthened when India, in the early 1990s, initiated its “Look East Policy” with the specific objective of economic integration and political cooperation with Southeast Asia and East Asia.
• In 2014, the ‘Look East Policy’ was graduated into an ‘Act East Policy’.
• Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP): The strategic partnership was elevated to comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, given the new security challenges of the 21st century.

Way Forward

Keeping in mind the strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region, primarily those posed by China, India and Vietnam should work in close coordination at multilateral institutions such as the UN Security Council, where both India and Vietnam are elected to be non-permanent members in 2021.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES.MINT