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So, Obama's trip is paying dividends?India will continue to assist Vietnam in armed forces modernization:Finance Minister Mukherjee.
Hanoi, May 4 : Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said India will continue to assist Vietnam in the modernization of its armed forces, particularly the Navy and Air Force.
his meeting with Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Tan Dung, here, Mukherjee said: "India is also prepared to strengthen intelligence cooperation with Vietnam, he added.
He said that the strategic partnership established between the two countries is based on implicit mutual trust, a convergence of interests including in the field of defence and security and similar approaches on global and regional issues.
"As two dynamic and fast growing economies of Asia, our effort is to add greater content, through concrete programmes and projects, to our strategic partnership, he added.
Mukherjee said that he is not satisfied with the level of economic cooperation between the two countries, which, though growing is far below potential.
"The bilateral trade is not even five per cent of India's overall trade with ASEAN," he added.
Saying that this year we have already achieved one billion dollars trade in the first quarter, he expressed hope to sustain and further develop this momentum.
Mentioning that the entry into force of the ASEAN-India FTA-in-Goods has contributed towards this buoyancy in trade, he said that he hopes to conclude the ASEAN-India FTA-in-Services and Investment at an early date.
He also expressed concern that the investment partnership between the two countries is limited.
Though there are several small Indian investors, total Indian investment is not large (USUSD 200mn), he said.
Expressing hope that the five billion dollars TATA Steel investment would be realized soon, Mukherjee said that this project has the potential to become a symbol of Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Mentioning that some progress has been made in recent weeks, he urged the Vietnam Prime Minister to ensure that a level playing field is provided to TATA Steel and that there is no discrimination against Indian investment.
He hoped that the remaining issue of re-settlement costs for the land would be resolved to the mutual satisfaction of all sides and the Investment Certificate for the project would be issued soon.
To this, the Prime Minister of Vietnam said that he has already asked the concerned officials to resolve the matter at the earliest.
http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-202147.html
What has China to say of this development?
It appears that there is a serious strategic cooperation in the region ever since the US President Obama toured the region.
There is no doubt that China will find all this disquieting.
