Author:
Publication: The Tribune
Date: October 9, 2011
URL: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2011/20111010/main2.htm
Unfazed by Chinese threats, Vietnam President
Truong Tan Sang today said India and other foreign nations were welcome to
explore hydrocarbons in areas within his country's jurisdiction, as he sought
to deepen strategic and defence ties with New Delhi.
Ahead of his maiden state visit to India from
Tuesday, President Sang said the objectives of his trip are to continue to
strengthen friendship between the two peoples, reinforce, deepen and add greater
substance to bilateral strategic partnership.
"This visit takes place in the context
that the time-honoured traditional friendship and strategic partnership between
Vietnam and India are witnessing strong growth in all areas for the sake of
peace, stability, cooperation and development," Sang said.
"We note with satisfaction the fine developments
of the strategic partnership between the two countries in all areas, including
security- defence," he said.
The high-level visit, which will be closely
followed by Beijing, comes at a time when both countries are having their
own difficulties with China. Commenting on the controversy over oil exploration
by India in two Vietnamese oil blocks in the South China Sea with Chinese
authorities raising objections claiming that it was their area, Sang defended
Hanoi's deal with India.
"It is a fact that all cooperation projects
between Vietnam and other partners, including ONGC, in the field of oil and
gas are located on the continental shelf, within the exclusive economic zone
and under the sovereign rights and jurisdiction of Vietnam, entirely in conformity
with international laws, especially the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the
Sea," he said.
We welcome foreign companies to work with
Vietnamese partners in oil and gas projects on the continental shelf and exclusive
economic zone of Vietnam and in conformity with Vietnamese laws," Sang
said The Chinese claim on the South China Sea has been rejected by both India
and Vietnam, saying as per the UN the blocks belong to Vietnam. India has
also made it clear that its state-owned firm would continue to explore in
the resource-rich South China Sea.
The President said Vietnam was also committed
to protecting the legitimate interests of foreign companies which have invested
in the country.
"Vietnam commits and is responsible for
protecting the rights and legitimate interests of foreign companies doing
business in Vietnam," the 62-year-old leader, also a politburo standing
member of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam,
said.
Asked if Beijing was overbearing in its attitude
towards Hanoi, the Vietnamese President said that his country hoped that China's
fast paced development would contribute positively to peace, stability and
progress.
"China is a country with a growing role
and influence in the region and the world. We hope that China's development
will contribute positively to peace, stability and development in the region
and the world," he said. - PTI
'China an important neighbour'
China and Vietnam fought a brief war in 1979
and according to analysts, Hanoi has grown wary of the Middle Kingdom's growing
economic and military might. But the Vietnamese President sought to downplay
this. "China is an important and close neighbouring country of Vietnam,"
he said, adding that Hanoi attached great importance to the development of
good neighbourliness and comprehensive cooperation with China, which constitutes
a priority in its foreign policy.
