President Ram Nath Kovind leaves on Sunday a week-long visit to Vietnam and Australia with the focus on deepening cooperation in key areas of defence, security, trade with these two key strategic partners of India.
Kovind will be accompanied by a high-level delegation, which includes Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Anant Kumar Hegde.
Briefing reporters on the visit, Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry said Kovind would start his trip from the Vietnamese coastal city of Da Nang. He will also visit the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi where he will hold talks with the political leadership and also address the National Assembly of Vietnam.
From Vietnam, he will head to Australia on 21 November, becoming the first Indian President to visit the nation. He will meet Prime Minister Scott Marrison and they will together unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parramatta to mark the 150th birth anniversary of the father of the nation. He will also visit Sydney and Melbourne and hold discussions with Governor-General Peter Cosgrove.
The progress in the implementation of the India-Australia civil nuclear deal is expected to figure during talks between President Kovind and the Australian leadership.