Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh had bilateral meetings on August 4 with the Indian Minister of State for External Affairs and foreign ministers of the Philippines and Brunei within the framework of the 51st ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM 51) in Singapore. 

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister cum Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (L) meets with Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V.K Singh

At the meeting with Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V.K Singh, the two officials highly evaluated the close Vietnam-India traditional friendship as well as the new development in the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the recent time, especially the regular exchange of high-level visits. 

The two sides agreed to realize the important results reached after the state visit to India by Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang in March 2018, and further deepen the bilateral defence-security cooperation by disbursing two defence funding packages pledged by the Indian Government for Vietnam. 

Minh and Singh also underlined the need to make more efforts to promote economic, trade and investment ties and further expand collaboration in the field of oil and gas in Vietnam.

Singh affirmed that India supports the maintenance of peace, stability and security as well as safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea, the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS), and the full and strict implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) and 

working towards an early formulation of an effective and practical Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC). 

He thanked Vietnam, as the coordinator of ASEAN-India relations in 2015-2018, for promoting the effective and practical cooperation between the two sides, thus to deepening the ASEAN-India Strategic Partnership.

During a meeting with Brunei Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Erywan Yusof, the two ministers agreed to further foster collaboration in potential fields such as agriculture, fishery, education, and tourism.

They held that it is necessary to open a direct flight connecting Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City with Brunei to promote exchanges in all sectors. The two diplomats urged the signing of an agreement on setting up a hot line to give prompt support to fisherman and fishing activities.

Yusof affirmed that he will request relevant agencies to speed up the granting of Halal certificates to Vietnamese food producers, and lauded Vietnam’s increasing rice and farm produce exports to the Brunei market, helping the country ensure long-term food security.

The same day, Minh also had a meeting with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alan Peter Cayetano, during which they agreed to continue intensifying the bilateral strategic partnership in important spheres such as defence-security, economy, trade-investment, and marine cooperation.

Minh asked both sides to soon organise the 9th meeting of the bilateral cooperation committee and complete the building of the Vietnam-Philippines action plan for 2018-2023, thus creating favourable conditions for promoting bilateral relations in the time ahead.

The ministers also affirmed the importance of strengthening cooperation and coordinating the two countries’ viewpoints at regional and international forums, especially within the framework of ASEAN. 

They agreed to enhance the ASEAN’s solidarity, self-resilience and unanimity in the region’s security and development issues, including the East Sea issue, and accelerate the building of a practical, effective and legally-binding COC.–VNA