Vietnam President arrives on maiden visit to India

Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang arrived in Bangalore Tuesday on a maiden, four-day visit to India aimed at deepening strategic and defense ties with New Delhi. Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj is slated to host a lunch in his honor at Raj Bhavan. Sang is scheduled to visit the headquarters of information technology major, Infosys Ltd, listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, at Electronic City on the outskirts of this technology hub. He will leave for New Delhi in the afternoon. Ahead of the visit, Sang said in Vietnam’s capital of Hanoi: '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.' 'We note with satisfaction the fine developments of the strategic partnership between the two countries in all areas, including security – defence,” he had said. Vietnam-India mutual trade volume reached more than USD 2.7 billion in 2010 and nearly USD 1.8 billion in the first six months of the calendar year 2011. The two sides have agreed to increase it to USD seven billion by 2015, officials said.