Deputy Minister of Home Affairs cum Chairman of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Phạm Dũng received Indian Ambassador Extraordinary penitentiary Preeti Saran at his office on Dec. 19.
Joining the meeting reception were representatives of Buddhist Affairs Dept, International Cooperation Dept and the Committee Office.
During the meeting the two sides exchanged on religious situation and state policies on religion in each country. They also expressed their satisfaction at new developments in religion-related cooperation between the two countries, especially since the visit of Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng to Republic of India in previous October.
They also agreed to boost religion-related cooperation activities, including religious training and holding of conferences on Buddhist cultural exchange, and use religions as a bridge for promoting the comprehensive cooperation relation between Vietnam and India.
Indian Ambassador highly appreciated the success of hosting UN Day of Vesak 2014 by the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, where a Buddhist delegation from India took part in this UN Buddhist event. She also said that the establishment of direct flight between the two countries and the approval by Indian authorities for Vietnamese to use electronic visa would create favorable conditions for pilgrimages to each country by Vietnamese and Indian people.
According to the Government Committee for Religious Affairs Chairman, there are currently two Vietnamese pagodas and a large number of Vietnamese Buddhists taking Buddhist courses in India./.
