By IANS
New Delhi : India and Vietnam are hopeful of achieving the bilateral trade target of $2 billion by 2010, even as New Delhi wishes to join hands with the Southeast Asian nation in the hydrocarbon and power sectors.
The hope was expressed at a meeting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Gia Khiem in Hamburg Tuesday on the sidelines of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) that India is attending for the first time. Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Cong Phung was also present.
"The two ministers reviewed bilateral relations and looked at concrete steps which needed to be taken to expand these relations. In particular, they hoped that India and Vietnam could reach the bilateral trade target of US $2 billion by 2010," an external affairs ministry spokesperson said here.
During their talks, Mukherjee reiterated India's desire to cooperate with Vietnam in the hydrocarbon and power sectors.
"This cooperation could be facilitated by offering soft loans to Vietnam as well as credit loan.
"The foreign minister of Vietnam discussed the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister of Vietnam to India. He also took the opportunity to reiterate Vietnam's support for India's candidature to the permanent membership of the UN Security Council," said the spokesperson.
Mukherjee also met Javier Solana, secretary general of the European Council and high representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy.
They reviewed India-EU relations and expressed their keenness to intensify political contacts.
Mukherjee and Solana also exchanged views on the Iran nuclear issue, according to the spokesperson.
The external affairs minister briefed Solana on the India-Pakistan composite dialogue and the confidence-building measures put in place between the two countries.
Earlier, Mukherjee met his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi and Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga.