New Delhi: Good news for flyers and travellers. A touch down to Hanoi in Vietnam from Kolkata in 2 hours time by Indigo starting from October 3, 2019, was announced by Vietnam Envoy to India Pham Sanh Chau.
Boosting tourism between the two nations, Pham Sanh Chau said, "We, today, launched direct Indigo flights between Kolkata and Hanoi, that will be starting from October 3, this year. The flying time from Kolkata to Hanoi is less than the air travel time from Kolkata to Delhi. We have also launched an online platform for Indian travellers to apply for a visa on arrival." Efforts are also being made to make India an educational, as well as, health destination for Vietnamese nationals.
The envoy said that the flight was expected to be a daily service between the two major cities and would help in the movement of tourists between the two countries. “In near future, we hope to connect Hanoi with other Indian cities as well,” he said.
Celebrating Veitnam unanimously being voted as a non-permanent member of the council for the 2020-2021 term earlier this month he reaffirmed his country's support for India's permanent membership at the UN Security Council. "Vietnam has expressed its commitment to support fully India's bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Previously also Vietnam has stated its support for India to become a UNSC permanent member once the council expands," he said.
"We look forward to working closely with India. India and Vietnam share a special relationship -- we are also comprehensive strategic partners. For Vietnam, India is amongst the three countries which enjoy the highest status of the relationship," he stated.
The diplomat said Vietnam’s leadership was expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Osaka G20 summit, adding that both sides were keen on maintaining high-level ties.
The latest high-level visit from India was in May when Vice President Venkaiah Naidu paid an official visit from May 9-12. “Mr. Naidu’s speech during the visit, where he dealt with the role of Buddhism in our ties with India was noted,” said the envoy.
Expressing his pleasure at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's win at the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pham outlining the steps taken towards the further strengthening of India-Vietnam relations under Modi's leadership said, "We are very pleased to see that Prime Minister Modi was re-elected. Our leaders were among the first to send congratulatory messages to PM Modi on the counting day itself. We congratulate Prime minister Modi on his success which shows that he has earned the confidence of the people of India. We are confident that relations will grow substantially."
"It was three years back when PM Modi came to Vietnam. He decided to uplift the India-Vietnam relationship from a strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership. I believe that the relationship will continue to grow," he added.
He further highlighted how President Ram Nath Kovind became one of the first leaders to address the Vietnamese Parliament during his visit to the nation around six months ago.
"The India-Vietnam relation is at all weather good and (I hope to) expand the relationship through practical steps. I am very pleased that I have been able to further a relationship which is already good," Pham lastly said.
In addition to this celebration, the Embassy also celebrated the 94th Vietnam's Journalist day which is on 21st June, by honouring Indian and Vietnamese journalists. The Ambassador presented the National External Information Service Awards to 2 Indian authors, Bijay Kumar Padhihari for his book “Ho Chi Minh: Through the eyes of Indians” and Surajeet Das Gupta, the Editor of Business Standard Newspaper, for his work “Vietnam open for business, but will India Inc cash in?” The National External Information Service Awards 2018 is organised by the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Information and Education, the Steering Committee on External Information Work and the Vietnam News Agency. Together they honour the outstanding authors, press works and books in the external information sector.
Mr. Michael Barbus, from Sharda University, announced the launch of Vietnam Ambassador Scholarship, for Vietnamese students who wish to study in India.
The embassy on this occasion introduced Vietnam’s first private high volume automotive manufacturer, VinFast.Vinfast is a subsidiary of Vingroup. They inaugurated their manufacturing plant on 13th June 2019 in the northern city of Hải Phòng. It is built on an area of more than 500,000 sq.m, of the complex’s total area of 335ha at Äình VÅ©-Cát Hải Industrial Park. Equipped with modern technology, the plant is designed to have a capacity of 250,000 vehicles per year in the first phase. The second phase will see capacity increase to 500,000 cars per year by 2025. On 16th June, VinFast handed over its first cars with brand name Fadil.
Also present at the celebration were members of FCC, representatives from Sharda University, Indigo Airlines and VFS Global Services, and other guests and media persons.
