He made the remarks at a reception for a delegation of the Indian Society for Cultural Cooperation and Friendship (ISCUF) led by Kagitala Raja Sekhar, General Secretary of ISCUF of Andha Pradesh state.
The visit aims to promote the cooperative relationship between VUFO, the Vietnam-India Friendship Association and some Vietnamese localities and ISCUF.
At the reception, Son spoke highly of ISCUF's important contributions to strengthening friendly relations and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
The VUFO President stressed that Vietnam has consistently implemented a foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, peace, friendship, cooperation and development, multilateralisation and diversification of relations. The country has strived to be a friend, a reliable partner and an active and responsible member of the international community.
Regarding people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, Son affirmed that the Vietnamese people will never forget the warm affection and support of Indian leaders and people for Vietnam in the struggle against foreign invaders for national liberation in the past and national construction and defence today.
VUFO and the Vietnam-India Friendship Association stand ready to coordinate with Indian partners, including ISCUF, in organising activities to strengthen solidarity, friendship and people-to-people cooperation between the two countries, he continued.
On behalf of the delegation, Sekhar sent his deep condolences to the Party, State and people of Vietnam over the passing of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
He emphasised that the friendship between the two countries is a testament to the long-term relationship formed through common values, mutual respect and strategic cooperation.
Since the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation for 2017-2022 between VUFO and ISCUF in 2017, ISCUF has been active in exchanging delegations to learn about Vietnam and exchange culture and art. Besides sending delegations to Vietnam, the society has also conducted a number of communication activities about the Southeast Asian nation on a number of ISCUF publications as well as local newspapers in both local languages and English.
