National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân pose a photo with a delegation
In the meeting, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân welcomed the official visit to Vietnam of the President and the IVSC delegation. She recalled the previous meeting in December 2016 which was intimate and open and thanked Geetesh Sharma and members of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee in West Bengal for fostering people-to-people contact between the two countries.
She underscored that Vietnamese people always keep in mind the support provided by India in the past and at present, lauding contributions of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee to stepping up the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership and relationship developed by President Hồ Chí Minh and India Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru would continue to strengthen and the Vietnam – India Friendship Association was established to preserve and nurture ties of friendship.
The NA leader highly valued efforts of President Geetesh Sharma in the past 50 years through stories and translated publications and books on Vietnam and late President Ho Chi Minh, as well as his initiative to translate two Vietnamese poem collections to Hindi and Bengali languages and publish them.
IVSC has made practical actions for supporting Vietnam such as letters that called for and opposite to China’s action of lowering the Hải Dương 981 rig in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in May 2014.
The NA leader said she hopes that a fact-finding tour of localities in Vietnam will enable Sharma to gather materials for his works and seek measures to enhance the cooperation between the committee and relevant Vietnamese agencies.
For his part, Sharma reiterated warm sentiments and whole-hearted support that Indian people have given Vietnam.
The previous meeting with NA Chairwoman Nguyễn Thị Kim Ngân inspired him to write the book which expressed his admiration for the country and the Vietnamese and he has written a half of a book that could launch in November 2017, Sharma shared.
From 1945-1975, his hometown in Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal State, launched various movements to show solidarity with Vietnamese people.
He revealed that he is writing a book about the admiration for the nation and people of Vietnam, which has been completed by half. He said he hopes that the visit will help him finish the book in November, contributing to bolstering mutual understanding between Vietnamese and Indian people.
Stressing the need to continue maintaining and promoting the friendship between the two countries, Sharma said that in the coming time, the two countries should continue increasing people-to-people exchange as well as cooperation in tourism and culture.
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