Vietnam wants India to move faster on economic cooperation and this is reflected when a senior foreign ministry official here said "the dragon is scratching away and the elephant must move fast", a reference to growing Chinese economic and military might in the strategic region set to be the powerhouse in this century.
With the deepening of relations between India and the ASEAN, of which Vietnam is a key member having recorded the fastest economic growth rate in recent years, and East Asia, there is optimism here that the bilateral relations between New Delhi and Hanoi would move to a qualitatively higher plane by giving a substantial economic content building on long-standing close political ties, officials here said.
That India and Vietnam have a long way to go is pointed to by the status of Hanoi's trade ties with both Beijing and Washington.
Vietnam's bilateral trade volume with China is estimated at 15 billion dollars and nine billion dollars with the United States, compared to one billion dollars with India.
Dung's visit, expected to begin on July 4, assumes significance as Vietnam has decided to choose the year 2007 to focus on developing its relations with India as well as France, its colonial ruler from mid 19th century to 1954.
The year also marks the 35th anniversary of establishment of full-scale diplomatic relations between India and Vietnam in 1972.
Vietnamese officials say the time could not be more ripe for giving a stronger footing to their country's economic ties with India as the two countries are experiencing an unprecedented boom.
While India's economic growth has averaged eight per cent in the last decade, the same for Vietnam has been eight per cent from 1990 to 1997 and seven per cent in 2004-05, making the ASEAN nation the second fastest growing economy in the world.
Vietnam has been consistently very supportive of India's seeking greater role in the economic and security architectures of both the ASEAN and East Asia at a time when a few key members of both the regional groupings are reticent about New Delhi's presence in the two regions primarily because of their strong economic ties with China.
Officials here say the outpour of support by India and its people for Vietnam's national liberation struggles against French and US occupation of the country has cemented the political ties between Hanoi and New Delhi.
A small but symbolic reflection of this is reflected in the naming of a park in downtown Hanoi after late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and a key road in the heart of Kolkata after the legendary Vietnamese revlutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.
But clearly, Vietnamese officials say, India-Vietnam relations view their ties in a post-Cold War international political and economic order.
