Accompanying the Ambassador, the delegation were Mr. Roshan Lepcha, Counsellor (Political & Information); Ms. Rachna Srivastav, First Secretary (Consular), at the Indian Embassy in Vietnam. Receiving the Indian Ambassador delegation with the Academy’s President were: Dr. Pham Cao Cuong, Deputy Director in charge of the Institute of Indian and Southwest Asian Studies; MSc. Nguyen Thanh Ha, Head of the International Cooperation Department.
Opening the meeting, Dr. Phan Chi Hieu congratulated Mr. Sandeep Arya on his appointment as Indian Ambassador to Vietnam; At the same time, he expressed his warm welcome to the delegation to visit and work at VASS. He appreciated the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and India as well as the scientific cooperation between research institutions, scholars of India and VASS during the past time. In his new position as VASS President and through the cooperation exchanges implemented between the Academy and Indian partners, Dr. Phan Chi Hieu indicated his desire to receive the support of the Ambassador in potential fields of scientific research and training of high-quality human resources. In particular, jointly develop a plan to cooperate in exhibiting artifacts about Indian culture and civilization at the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology under the Academy, contributing to promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges between the two countries in the near future.
In response to the VASS's President, Ambassador Sandeep Arya thanked the Academy for the warm welcome; highly appreciated the important role of the Academy as the leading research institute in Vietnam in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities. In the new and turbulent context, the Ambassador emphasized, the cooperation connection from the past - present - future is of great significance in consolidating the extensive cooperation relationship. He also highlighted that the two sides need to develop new research issues, specifically about India; promoting scientific cooperation activities, scholarship programs, short-term and long-term intensive courses on India, contributing to deepening mutual understanding between the two sides.
Discussing issues of concern in 2023, Ambassador Sandeep Arya and President Phan Chi Hieu exchanged contents related to the visit to India of the VASS delegation to attend the Strategic Dialogue with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and scientific exchanges with the University of Delhi and Indian research institutes, scheduled for the third quarter of 2023; the coordination in organizing the international conference "India in the New World Order After the Russia-Ukraine Crisis", expected in the second quarter of 2023; connecting and establishing relationships, scientific exchanges with think-tanks, research institutes, leading universities of India; the coordination of organizing seminars and scientific seminars on issues of security, politics, diplomacy, cultural and scientific cooperation, etc. on the occasion of major commemorative events of the two countries (Indian Independence Day and Constitution Day, Celebration of Rabindranath Tagore's Birthday; Celebration of President Ho Chi Minh's Birthday...); information sharing and multilateral cooperation initiatives; coordinate in welcoming delegations of Indian scholars to work in Vietnam; the provision of priority scholarships to VASS researchers taking courses in the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Program.
The working meeting ended successfully, promising practical, specific and effective cooperation activities, contributing to further promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and India to new heights. Accordingly, the Vietnam Institute of Indian and Southwest Asian Studies (one of the key institutes at the VASS and Vietnam) will be the focal point in cooperation with the Indian Embassy in Vietnam.
Nguyen Thu Trang
