Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has unveiled the bust of Mahatma Gandhi, a great national leader and hero of India, in Ho Chi Minh City, marking a significant step in deepening the India-Vietnam relationship.

The minister attended the inauguration hosted by the Indian Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday, as part of his official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son.

Also present at the event were Duong Anh Duc, deputy chairman of the city’s administration, and many senior officials from India and the city.

Located in Tao Dan Park in downtown District 1, the bust is 1.07 meters high and is placed on a base and a podium with a total height of 1.76 meters. 

The statue, sculpted from black monolithic natural stone by Indian artist Ram Vanji Sutar, was presented to Ho Chi Minh City by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations under the Indian government.

Addressing the ceremony, Minister Jaishankar expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese authorities for their cooperation in placing and inaugurating Gandhi's statue in the central garden of the city.

“This is a very symbolic moment in our friendship,” India’s DD News cited the minister as saying.  

He emphasized that Vietnam’s late State President Ho Chi Minh laid the foundation of the India - Vietnam friendship, which he called a brotherhood, and this relationship has not only remained firm through all these years but also flourished.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, the ambassador wrote: “The unveiling of the bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Tao Dan Park of Ho Chi Minh City is of great significance. [It] underlines the message of independence, self-reliance, and human dignity that brings India and Vietnam together.” 

In 2016, when Indian Prime Narendra Modi visited Vietnam, the two countries elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which covers politics, defense and security, trade and investment, culture, and people-to-people exchanges, among others, the diplomat told the ceremony.

Speaking at the event, deputy chairman Duc affirmed that the inauguration of the statue of leader Mahatma Gandhi in Ho Chi Minh City was a meaningful event, strengthening the long-standing friendly and traditional relationship between Vietnam and India, which established diplomatic relations in January 1972.  

This relationship stems from many historical and cultural similarities and becomes even more special because there are similarities between two great national leaders: Mahatma Gandhi and Ho Chi Minh, who both devoted their entire lives to the cause of national liberation, Duc said.

“When President Ho Chi Minh paid tribute to Gandhi's grave in 1958, he said that Mahatma Gandhi's lifestyle had inspired him,” Duc recalled.

The statue of President Ho Chi Minh in New Delhi, which was inaugurated in 2021, and that of Mahatma Gandhi in Ho Chi Minh City “not only honor these great heroes but also serve as symbols of our national cultures,” the Vietnam News Agency cited Duc as saying.  

The statues remind the future generations of a period when their forefathers fought together for independence, freedom, and peace for both countries and humanity in general, Duc stated.

As a national hero and spiritual leader of the Indian people, Mahatma Gandhi was famous for his nonviolent struggle, contributing greatly to the success of the struggle for India's independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Gandhi died on January 30, 1948 at the age of 78 in an assassination by a Hindu extremist who opposed the leader’s advocacy for unity between Hindus and Muslims.

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