Vice President Venkaiah Naidu interacted with leaders at NAM summit

The Vice President of India Venkaiah Naidu attended the NAM summit in Baku, Azerbaijan where he interacted with the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, his Vietnamese counterpart Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, the President of Cuba Mr. Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro Moros. During his interaction with the four dignitaries, the Vice President stressed the need to further deepen India’s close relations with Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cuba, and Venezuela in all spheres. 

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Increasing bilateral ties

A press release said, "The Vice President also met with Ms. Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Vice President of Vietnam on the sidelines of NAM Summit & Ministerial Meeting in Baku today. The Vice President spoke of the two millennia-old civilizational relationship and the historical bond of trust and friendship shared by the two nations. Referring to his participation in the 16th UN Day of Vesak Celebrations at Vietnam in May 2019, he conveyed his heartfelt gratitude to the warm hospitality accorded to him in Vietnam. He expressed his happiness at the flourishing Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries with significant defence and security cooperation, economic engagement, trade and investments, cultural and people-to-people interactions. The Vice President observed that Vietnam, which will assume the chair of ASEAN in 2020, was not just a trustworthy friend but a key pillar of India’s Act East policy and a very important partner for India in the ASEAN.

The Vice President had detailed interactions with the Heads of various states where they discussed ways to increase the bilateral relations with the respective countries. 

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During the visit to Azerbaijan, Naidu also addressed the Indian diaspora where he spoke about the relations between the two countries have increased over the past few years and how India has progressed under the Modi government. "The volume of our trade has multiplied manifold and Indian companies like ONGC Videsh have carved a niche for themselves in the oil and gas sector of the economy. However, the present level of economic engagement between the two countries is much below the potential. As Azerbaijan’s economy diversifies into the non-oil sector, I can see many opportunities for Indian companies to engage with their counterparts in the field such as Information and Communications Technology, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, agriculture, and food processing to name a few." 

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