President Pranab Mukherjee has said that the pact India’s ONGC Videsh Limited signed during his four-day state visit to Vietnam was for blocks located well within the territorial waters of the country. The clarification comes a day after China raised concerns about any agreement for oil explorations in what it called waters administered by it.
Speaking to journalists on the flight back from Vietnam, the President said: “India’s oil exploration activities in the South China Sea since 1988 are only commercial actions, and no political angularity should be drawn into it … India’s foreign policy never looks at any country through the prism of any third country.”
He also clarified that there was no relation between his visit to Vietnam and the Chinese President’s trip to India as his visit had been planned much in advance. President Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi on Wednesday.
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Asked for his reaction to the agreement signed during President Mukherjee’s visit to Vietnam, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China had noted the development. While it had no objection to any “legitimate and lawful” agreement between Vietnam and a third country, if such a pact concerned waters administered by it or if such cooperation project was not approved by the Chinese government, “we will be concerned about such an agreement and we will not support it.”
A joint communiqué signed during the visit also declared a united Indo-Vietnam stand for free navigation in the disputed waters of South China Sea and adjoining maritime areas.
In his departure statement, Mr. Mukherjee said the Southeast Asian nation had progressed and was making strides in all fields, including economy, “based on the strength of their character and determination.”
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The delegation accompanying the President included Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Members of Parliament besides senior officials from the Foreign Ministry.