Swaraj co-chairs 16th Joint Commission in Vietnam

Hanoi [Vietnam]: External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday co-chaired the 16th meeting of the Joint Commission, along with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were also signed between the two countries.

On Monday, the EAM met several foreign dignitaries from Bangladesh, Japan and Sri Lanka in order to strengthen strategic partnership and bilateral relations with the respective nations.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Japan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kazuyuki Nakane and Bangladeshi Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal were some of the dignitaries Swaraj held talks with on the sidelines of the third Indian Ocean Conference, which was inaugurated by Swaraj.

At the Conference, Swaraj asserted that the Indian Ocean is a central component of a free and fair Indo-Pacific region.

"The Indian Ocean was known as 'Ratnakali' or ocean of treasures'. Our vision for the region is of collective cooperation and coordination. Therefore, nurturing a climate of peace and stability is an important priority for our foreign policy. We have to commit to the idea of peaceful co-existence," she had said.

Earlier, Swaraj lauded the Indian embassies across the world, saying that, "If any Non-Resident Indian (NRI) gets stuck anywhere in the world, they are confident that their government will save them. Relief is just one tweet away. What was never a priority in embassies has become the top priority now."

The EAM had also unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Indian Embassy at Hanoi.

Swaraj is scheduled to depart for Cambodia tomorrow, where she will hold bilateral meetings with her Cambodian counterpart, Prak Sokhonn. She will also meet Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and President of Senate Say Chhum.