President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday leaves for a four-day state visit to Vietnam during which he will hold talks with the top leadership of that country and also visit sites of cultural and historical significance.

 

Mukherjee will meet his Vietnamese counterpart Truong Tan Sang, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Sinh Hung in capital Hanoi.

 

 He will also travel to Ho Chi Minh City.

 

Mukherjee will be received with full protocol ceremonies. A number of agreements are expected to be inked during the visit.

 

 "This visit is taking place following the successful Year of Friendship in 2012, the 40th anniversary of our diplomatic relations with Vietnam and also the fifth anniversary of our strategic partnership with them, the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in 2012, and also the visit of the general secretary of the Vietnam Communist Party which happened in 2013. So, it will provide an opportunity to review our relations and also deepen our strategic partnership," Secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry Anil Wadhwa said at a briefing.

 

Vice President Hamid Ansari visited Vietnam in 2013, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was in Hanoi in August to lay the groundwork for the president's visit.

 

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was in India in 2013.

 

India and Vietnam elevated their ties to a strategic partnership in 2007.