Hanoi: India and Vietnam on Monday signed seven agreements, including one on air services and another on scouting for oil.
The seven agreements were signed in the presence of visiting Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang.
The air services agreement was between Jet Airways and Air Vietnam while OVL, the overseas arm of oil major ONGC, and Petro Vietnam inked an agreement on exploring two additional blocks off Vietnam.
The other agreements were on agriculture cooperation, cooperation in animal health, customs cooperation, and one on youth affairs and skill development.
India will also be extending a line of credit to Vietnam.
President Pranab Mukherjee is on a four-day state visit to Vietnam that began on Sunday.
The direct flights to Vietnam will be everyday and will be “very profitable”, said Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal after the inking of an air services agreement.
Mr. Goyal said that the air services are going “to be very feasible, it is going to be very profitable”.
He said the direct flights will start from Nov 5 and “booking has already started”.
A Boeing 737 — 800 will be pressed into service and it “is going to be everyday”, said Mr. Goyal, who expressed full confidence of it being a success.
President Mukherjee called Naresh Goyal “a giant bridge” between the two countries.
Bodhi tree sapling planted in VietnamA sapling of the holy Bodhi tree from Bodh Gaya in Bihar, which was carried by President Pranab Mukherjee as a gift, was planted in Hanoi.
President Mukherjee planted the sapling in the presidential palace in Hanoi.
Secretary (East) Anil Wadhwa at a briefing in Delhi had earlier said Vietnam is “looking forward to the gift” of the sacred Bodhi sapling.
