Director of the Centre for Southeast Asian and Pacific Studies at the Sri Venkateswara University in India, Professor Jayachandra Reddy, said the world recognises Ho Chi Minh as a legendary leader.

The Indian people admire him for his sound leadership and unyielding fighting spirit in the cause of national liberation and independence.

General Secretary of the India-Vietnam Solidarity Committee of West Bengal state, Dr Prava Samantaray, lauded the late President as a leader who inspired and guided Vietnam to defeat major global powers like the French colonialists, the American imperialists, and the Japanese fascists, adding that Ho Chi Minh is her idol and also a great thinker.

Head of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP)’s Commission for External Relations, Sounthone Sayachak, affirmed that the success of the Lao revolution is attributable to the leadership and guidance of President Ho Chi Minh.

Vinaythong Souphanouvong, 74, son of the late Prince Souphanouvong, who was also the first President of Laos, was most impressed by Uncle Ho’s modesty, sincerity, and straightforwardness.

Vice President for the Americas and the Caribbean of the International Democratic Women’s Federation, Elizabeth Tortosa, who is the wife of the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Venezuela, Jesus Faria Tortosa, shared her memories about meeting President Ho in 1965.

Elizabeth arrived in Vietnam as part of a campaign for the release of her husband, who was in bad health in prison. She recalled that during the meeting with President Ho in Hanoi, the President inquired about her husband’s health and expressed his support for the campaign.

"I was impressed by the simple style, wisdom, and revolutionary modesty of the President,” she said.

The meeting was one of the biggest political lessons of her life, she said, and President Ho was among the great revolutionary leaders of the 20th century.

Wang Feng, a former military doctor in Beijing who met the President in 1957 when she was five, recalled that she burst into tears when hearing about his death.

Park Chan Kyong, a journalist in the Republic of Korea, also admired the late leader for his endless love for the Vietnamese people and their unyielding struggle for national independence.

French historian Alain Ruscio said President Ho was a legend in the hearts of Vietnam’s international friends.