Vietnamese President to visit India to promote ties

Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang will pay an official visit to India to promote bilateral ties from October 11-14, at the invitation of Indian President Pratibha Patil, reported Vietnam News Agency on Monday. The visit is aimed at affirming Vietnam's consistent policy to attach importance to the country's strategic partnership with India, promoting all-sided bilateral cooperation, and strengthening their relations in regional and international forums, said the report. Vietnam and India have planted a long-standing relationship, which has been boosted to the current strategic partnership with deep, practical and efficient comprehensive bilateral cooperation. Vietnam-India two-way trade volume reached more than 2.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2010 and nearly 1.8 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months of 2011. The two sides agreed to increase it to seven billion U.S. dollars by 2015. The two sides had signed many agreements to promote cooperation in culture, tourism, education and training and other fields.