Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 3

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s one-day visit to Vietnam today, en route to China to attend the G20 Summit, saw India and Vietnam upgrading the bilateral relationship to that of a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.Vietnam had a comprehensive strategic partnership only with Russia and China so far. Defence and security ties were the highlight of the trip, which is bound to upset China which is already wary of Vietnam’s resistance to its expansion plans in the South China Sea (SCS).Sources said Vietnam expressed its “appreciation of India’s principled stand on the South China Sea issue”. It is also learnt that Vietnam asked for greater Indian participation in oil and gas sectors in its country.India also announced a new defence credit for Vietnam of $500 million. China is currently at loggerheads with the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei over ownership of territory in the SCS. India has consistently taken the stand that it supports freedom of navigation and all disputes must be resolved according to international law.One of the highlights of the visit was the signing of the contract for ‘Fast off Shore Patrol Vessels’ between India and the Vietnam Border Guards under a $100 million line of credit which India had given earlier to Vietnam. Sources said Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, thanked Modi for India’s support to Vietnam’s armed forces and told the PM that both countries should “intensify coordination in regional and multilateral fora”.After his meeting with Modi, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said: “(We) discussed matters concerning the East Sea.”He said all sides must “peacefully solve East Sea disputes based on international laws” when asked about various sovereignty claims in SCS. Later today, Modi reached China to attend the G20 Summit. He is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorro

Indians greet PM in China

• Hangzhou: A group of Indians on Saturday gathered at a hotel here to greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrived in this Chinese city for the crucial G20 summit. The Prime Minister was greeted with chants of ‘Modi, Modi’ by the group of Indian men and women when he reached the hotel. The group came from neighbouring Yiwu, the commodity hub which has several hundred businessmen residing there. PT