PM Narendra Modi and President of Vietnam's National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan
In a significant development, India and influential East Asian nation Vietnam today signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that it will further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
The two countries also signed three other agreements - to enhance aviation links, to jointly work in the area of energy efficiency and promotion of parliamentary cooperation.
The four pacts, aimed at boosting the relations, were signed here in presence of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and visiting President of Vietnam's National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan after their talks on enhancing the ties.
Ngan, who is leading a Vietnamese Parliamentary delegation, also met the Prime Minister who said the Agreement on Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy "will further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between India and Vietnam."
Mr Modi recalled his earlier meeting with Ngan in Hanoi during his visit to Vietnam in September.
He said that Ngan, as the first woman to head the National Assembly of Vietnam, is a source of inspiration to women across the world.
Mr Modi welcomed increased Parliamentary interactions between India and Vietnam, and called for instituting an exchange programme for young parliamentarians of the two countries.
Cooperation Agreement between the Lok Sabha of the Republic of India and the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
The civil nuclear agreement with Vietnam, an influential East Asian nation, comes close on the heels of India signing a similar pact with Japan.