Kolkata/IBNS: Indo-Vietnam Solidarity Committee (IVSC), Kolkata, a city based NGO that was set up to foster friendship between India and Vietnam, celebrated the 79th National Day of  the Southeast Asian nation at its office where communist icon and freedom fighter Ho Chi Minh was remembered along with a discussion on the Bamboo Diplomacy of the country.

The symposium on ‘Relevance of  Bamboo Diplomacy through people-to-people Relations for Peace and Development’ was attended by people from different walks of life, including journalists, Left politicians, activists and intellectuals.

After paying floral tribute to the portrait of President Ho Chi Minh, State Secretary of West Bengal Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Mohammad Salim spoke at length about the flexible diplomacy of Vietnam since the time of President Ho Chi Minh.

He said that the diplomatic approach of Vietnam had been flexible and soft even during the days of the Liberation war, during which negotiations were continuing along with the war. He said that the focal point of Indian diplomacy had been Panchsheel while that of Vietnam, it was Bamboo Diplomacy or rather flexible diplomacy through people to people relations.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Tillotama Mukherjee, Head of the Department of Political Science, Shyamaprasad College, said that the Bamboo Diplomacy was proposed by Comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, at the Vietnam Diplomatic Conference in 2016.

Dr. Trong was the longest serving Communist Party Chief of Vietnam from 2011 to 2024 till his passing after the Unification of Vietnam.

Bamboo Diplomacy stems from the realisation that Bamboo has a sturdy root system but at the same time, it has flexible branches  symbolising resilience and adaptability. It is a very pragmatic approach in cultivating good relations with multiple countries that includes the USA, China, Japan and India.

Earlier Prem Kapoor, Vice-President of IVSC, introduced the subject of discussion in brief and moderated the programme.

Renowned poet and secretary General of IVSC, presided over the symposium and Mr. Bimal Sharma, convener, proposed the vote of thanks. Mr. Arvind Kori, a young  member of IVSC, organised both the events - at Ho Chi Minh Bust and the Symposium at IVSC office.

Members, intellectuals, journalists and activists were present in good numbers at the symposium.

Earlier in the morning, Committee members of IVSC gathered in front of President Ho Chi Minh's bust at the crossing of Jawaharlal Nehru and Ho Chi Minh Sarani to offer floral tributes to the late President of (North) Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh, who led the post-WWII anti-colonial movement, was the founder of the Indochina Communist Party and its successor, the Viet-Minh (1941), and was the president of (North) Vietnam from 1945 to 1969 when he died.