India, Vietnam sign 12 agreements

Hanoi: India and Vietnam on Saturday signed 12 agreements in a wide range of areas covering defence, IT, space, double taxation and sharing white shipping information, signalling a strong upward push in their strategic ties.

The agreements were signed by officials of the two sides in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc here.

"12 for togetherness! India & Vietnam sign a dozen agreements for further strengthening the Strategic Partnership," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Vietnam has shown a keen interest in air and defence production. India's L&T will build offshore high-speed patrol boats for Vietnamese Coast Guards, while an agreement was signed on programme of cooperation in UN peacekeeping matters.

The Indian Navy and Vietnam Navy will cooperate in sharing of white shipping information.

The pacts included agreement on exploration and uses of outerspace for peaceful purposes, agreement on avoidance of double taxation, health cooperation, IT cooperation, cyber security and agreement on contract and design, building of boat in India, equipment supply and technology transfer.

In addition, MoU between Vietnamese Academy of Social Science and Indian Council of World Affairs, MoU between BIS and STAMEQ for mutual recognition of standards, agreement on setting up of sustainable IT Infra for advanced IT training and protocol between Vietnam and India on celebrating 2017 as 'The Year Of Friendship' were also signed.