Article Posted on : - Sep 17, 2011

HANOI (PTI): India and Vietnam have discussed the entire gamut of bilateral, regional and global issues and agreed to add greater content to their ties in fields like defence and security and trade and investment.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who is here on a three-day visit, held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh on Friday.

Their discussions covered bilateral, regional and global issues and the two ministers expressed satisfaction that the Strategic Partnership was developing well.

They agreed to add greater content to bilateral relations in the fields of defence and security, trade and investment, education and culture and other areas, an official statement said.

The two Ministers also co-chaired the 14th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Meeting on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation and reviewed implementation of activities for 2007-10 under bilateral cooperation, apart from agreeing to a plan of activities for 2011-13.

Focus areas for cooperation included political, defence and security, trade and investment, credit and banking, energy including oil and gas exploration, agriculture, animal husbandry and aquaculture, science and technology, information and communications technology, health, civil aviation, education, human resources development, capacity-building and cultural and media exchanges.

Krishna is also expected to call on President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung during his visit, which he has undertaken at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart.