Vietnam and India signed nine memoranda of understanding on cooperation in the application of biotechnology in agriculture, nanotechnology and ICT research and India studies and Vietnam studies during a visit by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan from March 26-30.

The visit is the first by a high-level Vietnamese leader in the Vietnam-India Friendship Year 2012 commemorating the 40 th anniversary of diplomatic ties and five years of establishment of strategic partnership between the two nations.

During the visit, Deputy PM Nhan had discussions with leaders of Indian ministries, universities and institutes, including Minister of Human Resources Development, and Communication and Information Technology Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh and Minister of Defence Aracjaparambil Kurien Antony.

He also visited the Jawarharlal Nehru University , the University of Delhi and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing in New Delhi , and the Indian Institute of Management, the Indian Space Research Organisation and the Infosys Group in Bangalore .

He attended the Conference on Information Technology in New Delhi and met with leaders of the Indo-Vietnam Solidarity Association.

At the meetings, the two sides expressed satisfaction at the positive developments in the bilateral ties in recent years and agreed to strengthen and further enhance the traditional friendship and strategic partnership, particularly in the fields of education-training and science-technology.

Deputy PM Nhan affirmed Vietnam ’s support for India 's "Look East" Policy and its bid to be a permanent member of the reformed UN Security Council.

In politics, the two sides agreed to further strengthen exchanges and contacts at all levels, intensify the existing cooperation mechanisms between the two countries to better implement activities in the Vietnam - India Friendship Year 2012.

Both sides agreed to establish a joint working group in the field of education and training. India pledged to help Vietnam train researchers, university instructors and officials with doctoral degrees in areas where India has strengths.

They also agreed to set up a Bangalore excellent training and research centre for information and communication technology (ICT) in Vietnam .

Regarding science and technology, both sides pledged to promote the implementation of the four joint research projects in the fields of biotechnology, information and telecommunication technology, nanotechnology and oceanography.

VNA