Remarks by Ambassador Pranay Verma at the Formal Launch of
Direct Flight between Hanoi and New Delhi
(11 February 2020; NoiBai International Airport)
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Her Excellency Mme. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Vice President of Vietnam,
All Senior Leaders of Vietnam present here today,
My Colleagues from Diplomatic Corps attending this event,
Senior Leaders of VietJet,
All other distinguished guests,
Ladies & Gentlemen!
It is a matter of great pleasure and honour for me to participate in this augustceremony to celebrate the formal launch of direct flight by Viet Jet between Hanoi and New Delhi. I am also happy to learn that Viet Jet will be soon starting direct flights connecting more cities in both countries.
The significance of this occasion grows manifold because Her Excellency Madam Vice President is going to take this direct flight to visit New Delhi on her first official visit to India.
Madam, a warm welcome awaits you in India.
The visit of Her Excellency Vice President is an important milestone in the high-level exchanges between our two countries and symbolizes the tremendous momentum in our bilateral ties in recent years.
This truly is a great beginning for our relations in the New Year – the Year of Mouse.
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Ladies and Gentlemen!
Bound by a rich history of civilizational and cultural links, India and Vietnam have a long-tradition of friendly relations.We have always stood by each other during difficultiesand supported each other's national development.
Today, our friendship is characterized as Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is based on strong mutual trust and understanding and on a strong convergence ofvalues and interests.
Our partnershiptoday spans a wide-range of areas – ranging from political engagement to trade and investment ties, energy cooperation, development partnership, defence and security cooperation and people-to-people relations.
Of these, people-to-people exchange is one of the important foundations of our relations.
Vietnam is a key pillar of India’s Act East Policy and an important partner in India’s Indo-Pacific Vision. Both these policies lay stress on enhanced connectivity to bring our societies, businesses and people closer together.
The launch of direct flights is a significant development in our efforts towards achieving close connectivity.
We are confident that the direct flights will give a boost to tourism exchanges between India and Vietnam and bring our peoples closer together.
Our common Buddhist heritage offers a significant tourism attraction and we can build on this theme in a big way. At the same time, with its rich history and natural beauty, Vietnam offers great attractions for people of India and provides immense opportunity to expand tourism exchanges.
Recently, Government of India has also liberalized its e-visa regime with significant reductions invisa fees and with visas for longer durations. This will greatly facilitate tourists from Vietnam visiting India.
Apart from enhancing tourism, we are also hopeful that these convenient direct connections will encourage businesses on both sides to work on their complementarities and push the level of our economic ties.
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I would once again like to thank Viet Jet for inviting me to join this event. I wish them all success in their endeavours to promote robust people-to-people exchanges between India and Vietnam.
I also wish Her Excellency Madam Vice President a very successful and productive visit to India.
Thank you very much!
Long live India-Vietnam Friendship!
Quan He An Do Viet Nam Muon Nam!
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