New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) With reports suggesting that India rebuffed China over its objections to ONGC Videsh's (OVL) oil explorations in two Vietnamese blocks in South China Sea, New Delhi Thursday said its cooperation with Vietnam or any other country was as per international regulations.
The remark comes even as External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna embarked on a three-day visit to Hanoi to co-chair the 14th India-Vietnam Joint Commission meeting (JCM) on trade, investment, scientific and technological cooperation, to be held Friday.
"Our cooperation with Vietnam or any other country is always as per international laws, norms and conventions. Trade is an important aspect of India's relations with Vietnam and the field of energy, hydrocarbons and renewable energy is one such important area. We want to see this relationship grow and expand," ministry of external affairs spokesman Vishnu Prakash told reporters here.
He was responding to queries on reports that India had told China its objections to OVL's explorations in South China Sea had "no legal basis" as the blocks belonged to Vietnam.
OVL is one of India's largest investors in Vietnam, its contribution amounting to $225 million out of the around $400 million Indian investments in that southeast Asian country.
Prakash said the external affairs ministry was heading a huge delegation comprising of officials from OVL, apart from those from ministries of information and technology, home affairs, and Indian Council of Cultural Relations. The last JCM was held in February 2007 in New Delhi.
Krishna will be assisted in the JCM Friday by Joint Secretary (South) Arun Goyal. The Vietnamese side will be led by newly-appointed Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, who was born in India over fifty years ago when his father, who too later became Vietnam foreign minister, was consul general in New Delhi.
The JCM was preceded by the second India-Vietnam Strategic Dialogue and the Fifth Foreign Office Consultations in August this year that was led by Secretary (East) Sanjay Singh.
Krishna, during his stay in Hanoi, will inaugurate the India-Vietnam Advanced Resource Centre, being set up at a cost of $2 million with Indian funding. The technical support for the centre will come from India's C-DAC.
"This is a quality IT training centre which will be operational almost immediately," Prakash said.
Krishna will also been holding high-level meetings such as with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang before returning to New Delhi Saturday.