Vietnamese prime minister, Nguyen Tan Dung and his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh noted that the strategic partnership marked a new breakthrough in bilateral relations.

During the talks, the two leaders also observed that their meeting was taking place in the fifth year since the signing of the "Joint Declaration on the Comprehensive Cooperation Framework between India and Vietnam" in May 2003. Over this period the ties between the two countries had remained steadfast.

It is now expected that the New Strategic Partnership would encompass relations in all spheres of bilateral activity including political, economic, security, defence, cultural, scientific and technology.

The strategic partnership will support each country's durable growth and prosperity and work for the sake of peace, stability, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific and the world, the two leaders said.

To promote this new strategic partnership, the two government leaders agreed to further bolster the two countries' political ties in addition to establishing a strategic dialogue mechanism at the level of deputy foreign ministers.

Defence
They also reached agreement on continuing strengthening security and defence cooperation, especially in training and the sharing of information on anti-terrorism, sea pirates and transnational crimes.

Recognising the important role that India and Vietnam are called to play in the promotion of regional security, the two leaders welcomed the steady development of bilateral defence and security ties between their countries and agreed that contacts and exchanges of visits between the defence and security establishments of the two countries should be further enhanced.

They also recognised that both countries have extensive maritime interests, and that the two sides would work closely to enhance cooperation in capacity building, technical assistance and information sharing between their respective relevant agencies for ensuring security of sea-lanes, including combating piracy, preventing pollution and conducting search and rescue.

Trade
On trade cooperation, the two PMs agreed to continue working to bring two-way trade to US$2 billion in 2010 and $5 billion in 2015. In this regard, the Indian side said that they will heed of Viet Nam's request to recognise its full-fledged market economy and pledged to take necessary measures to enable Vietnamese products to enter India' market so as to balance two-way trade.

India will lend Vietnam a $45 million credit with preferential treatments for the building of a hydro-electricity power plant.

On regional and international issues, Vietnamese prime minister Dung expressed his support for India's "Look East" policy which was tailored to link India closely with Southeast Asia. He said Vietnam is willing to work as a bridge between India and other ASEAN countries so that all can work together for the goal of prosperity and stability in the region.

PM Dung took the occasion to thank India for its active support for Vietnam's admission to the World Trade Organisation and its candidacy for the non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council in the 2008-09 term.

The Indian PM, in turn, singled out Viet Nam's support to India's quest for a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council.

The Indian prime minister also accepted an invitation to visit Vietnam.

After the two prime ministers signed the joint declaration on the strategic partnership between Vietnam and India, seven new agreements related to various areas were also signed. They included a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in the area of fisheries and aquaculture, an MoU between Vietnam's science and technology ministry and India's Power ministry on the implementation of an agreement on cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and an MoU on land and property exchange for the two countries' diplomatic representative missions.

An MoU on the establishment of an English Language Training Centre in central coastal Da Nang city, a cultural exchange programme, a cooperation plan on agricultural research and education between the two agriculture ministries for the 2007-09 period and an educational exchange programme between the Vietnamese and Indian governments were also signed.

On the evening of July 6, Indian PM Manmohan Singh and his wife hosted a banquet in honour of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his wife and entourage.

During the visit, a number of business cooperation contracts and agreements totaling almost $4.5 billion were signed between the two countries' businesses. These included the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Vietnam Steel Corporation and India's Tata group in the presence of the two PMs.