Hanoi (VNA)– The Embassy of India in Vietnam hosted a ceremony to celebrate the 71stanniversary of India’s Independence Day (August 15, 1947) in Hanoi on August15.

The event was attendedby Indian Ambassador to Vietnam Harish Parvathaneni; Chairman of the NationalAssembly’s Ethnic Affairs Committee and Chairman of the Vietnam-IndiaParliamentary Friendship Group Ha Ngoc Chien; Deputy Foreign Minister Le HoaiTrung; and Vice President of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Most Venerable ThichDuc Thien.

In his remarks at theevent, Ambassador Parvathaneni reminded his guests of the history ofVietnam-India relations which date back more than 2,000 years ago when Indianmerchants and monks came to Vietnam to trade goods and spread the teaching ofBuddhism.

The two nations liftedtheir ties to the level of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visitof Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vietnam in September 2016, which hasbrought new impetus to the expansion of the bilateral cooperation in manyfields, he said.

The two countries’leaders have identified strong economic cooperation as a key factor driving thebilateral relations, the ambassador noted, highlighting the mutual goal ofraising two-way trade to 15 billion USD by 2020.

Parvathaneni said heis pleased to know that Indian enterprises have more business opportunities inVietnam, particularly in the areas of energy, petroleum, agriculture andagricultural processing, banking, textiles and garment, engineering, andservices. Vietnam and India have also co-held a number of cultural exchangeevents, notably a series of Yoga Day events across Vietnamese cities andprovinces this year.

He moved on to sayASEAN is the centre of India’s Act East Policy, with Vietnam as a key pillar ofthe grouping. For this reason, Vietnam has made it possible for India to gainaccess to other ASEAN member states, contributing to the success of theASEAN-India Commemorative Summit earlier this year. He vowed to further fosterthe Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations.

Deputy FM Le HoaiTrung, for his part, said Vietnamese people are proud to have a loyal friendlike India, noting that political trust has been proven through high-levelvisits between the two sides.

Indian FM SushmaSwaraj will visit Vietnam and co-chair the 16th meeting of the Vietnam-Indiaintergovernmental committee later this month, he said, adding that he expectsthe two countries will continue working closely and supporting each other atinternational forums and organisations.

He expressed hisbelief in the bright future of long-standing relations and ComprehensiveStrategic Partnership between Vietnam and India, for the benefit of the twopeoples as well as the peace, stability, and prosperity of the region and theworld. –VNA