India and Vietnam today signed eight Agreements including in the areas of Defence and Security, Oil exploration, Civil Aviation and Scientific Research.

The agreements were signed after a delegation level talks between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and General Secretary of Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong in New Delhi this evening.

In his media statement, Dr. Singh said both the countries have decided to further strengthen the cooperation in the area of defence and security.

He said that India will continue to assist Vietnam in modernization and training of its defence and security forces, including through a 100 million dollar line of credit for defence purchases.

He said, New Delhi will also help in setting up the Indira Gandhi High-tech Cyber Forensic Laboratory in Hanoi and a Vietnam-India English and IT Training Centre at the National Defence Academy of Vietnam.

On bilateral trade, Dr. Singh said that the two countries are on course to achieve the trade target of 7 billion dollars by 2015. He added that a new Joint Sub-Commission on Trade will work towards realizing the enormous potential of economic relations.

The Prime Minister also appreciated Vietnam’s decision to award 1.8 billion dollar thermal power project to Tata Power in Vietnam and the offer of another offshore block to ONGC Videsh Limited for continued oil and gas exploration. He said, the two countries have also identified Education and Information Technology as important areas for further collaboration.

Dr. Singh also conveyed Nguyen Phu Trong about the Archeological Survey of India’s readiness to take up the project for conservation and restoration of the Cham Monuments, which are a symbol of historical, civilizational and cultural contacts between the two countries.

The Prime Minister appreciated Vietnam’s steadfast support to India’s integration and engagement with the ASEAN and New Delhi' aspiration for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council.