Indo-Vietnamese Peter Hein, Malayalam film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Indian film critic Aruna Vasudev, and the Indian Ambassador to Vietnam. Under the Action Plan for 2017–20 to operationalise the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries, the Indian government will collaborate with select Indian educational institutes to organize Vietnamese language courses and to promote Vietnamese culture in India. Former Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes, who visited Vietnam in March 2000, was a self-described admirer of Vietnam and its people. Addressing the annual conference of Karnataka Planters' Association in 2004, Fernandes remarked, "If there is a rebirth, I would like to be born as a Vietnamese. They are ready to die for their commitment." He noted that 3 million Vietnamese had been killed in conflicts with France, the United States and China, but had managed to recover from the devastation of war. Tourism Around 169,000 Indians visited Vietnam and over 31,000 Vietnamese visited India in 2019, recording a growth of 28% and 32% over 2018 respectively. India is a favored spiritual destination for many Vietnamese because it is home to many famous Buddhist temples, including the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya where the Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. India introduced the e-visa facility for Vietnamese citizens in November 2014. Vietnam extended e-visas to Indian citizens in December 2017. The first scheduled non-stop direct flights between India and Vietnam began on 3 October 2019, when Indian low-cost airline IndiGo commenced daily services between Kolkata and Hanoi, followed by services between Kolkata and Ho Chi Minh City later that month. Vietnamese airline Vietjet Air commenced scheduled non-stop direct flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to New Delhi in December 2019. Vietnam's Ambassador to India, Pham Sanh Chau, said that long flight times, inconvenient routes and high costs had been the major hindrances preventing Indian tourists from traveling to Vietnam. Chau added, "The launch of direct flights is a great opportunity to promote bilateral tourism in the context of Vietnam looking for ways to reduce heavy dependence on Chinese tourists." The ASEAN-India Year of Tourism took place in 2019. Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism K. J. Alphonse visited Vietnam on 17–18 January 2019 to attend the 7th meeting of the ASEAN-India Tourism Ministers and ASEAN Tourism Forum 2019 in Ha Long City. Two India-Vietnam Tourism Roadshows were held in January and August 2019 in Hanoi by Embassy of India,