- India and Vietnam elevated ties to enhanced strategic partnership.
- Bilateral trade target set at $25 billion by 2030.
New Delhi: India and Vietnam on Wednesday elevated their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership and set a USD 25 billion annual trade target by 2030 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese President To Lam held talks focusing on expanding bilateral ties in areas of trade, defence and critical minerals in the face of increasing geopolitical upheavals.
Amid China’s rising muscle-flexing in the region, Modi and Lam underlined the importance of maintaining peace, security, and freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea while specifically calling for a peaceful resolution to disputes without “threat or use of force”.
Following the talks between the two leaders, India and Vietnam signed as many as 13 agreements which will provide for deeper two ways engagements in a range of areas including digital payments, rare earth minerals, pharmaceuticals, education, banking and culture.
A major focus of the deliberations was to boost bilateral defence ties and in that context Vietnam expressed interest in procuring BrahMos missiles from India, officials said.
Elected as president earlier this month, Lam began his first state visit to India on Tuesday, leading a high-level delegation for a three-day trip.
“A decade ago, Vietnam became India’s first comprehensive strategic partner in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) . Since then, our relations have made rapid and comprehensive progress,” Modi said in his media statement.
“Building on this strong foundation, today we are elevating our relations to the level of Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We will now advance our partnership to even higher goals,” he said.
“Our cooperation will reach new levels in every area ” culture, connectivity, and capacity building, as well as security, sustainability, and supply chain resilience,” Modi added.
He noted that the bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has doubled in the last decade to reach USD 16 billion and that the target now is to increase it to USD 25 billion by 2030.
A joint statement, referring to the situation in South China Sea, said Modi and Lam pitched for pursuing peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), without resorting to threat or use of force.
There have been growing concerns over China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty over all of the South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons.
Several countries in the region including Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei, have counterclaims.
“The leaders underscored the importance of non-militarisation and self-restraint in the conduct of all activities by claimants and all other states, and avoidance of actions that could further complicate the situation or escalate disputes affecting peace and stability,” it said.
Modi and Lam underlined that UNCLOS is the comprehensive legal framework governing all activities in the oceans and seas.
The two leaders further called for the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in its entirety and the early conclusion of negotiations towards a substantive and effective Code of Conduct in the South China Sea (COC) that does not prejudice the legitimate rights and interests of all nations, the joint statement said.
At a media briefing, P Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, confirmed discussions on Brahmos missile.
“We do talk about number of platforms. Brahmos is one of them,” he said.
In another move, the Indian side proposed to Vietnam that it can provide maintenance services to Vietnam’s Sukhoi fighter jet fleet.
The joint statement said the two leaders expressed satisfaction on the implementation of the bilateral defence pacts including the mutual logistics support agreement, memorandum of agreement on submarine search and rescue support and signing of letter of intent on strengthening defence industrial cooperation.
Modi also cited a plethora of agreements signed between the two countries to emphasis that the economic engagement is expected to witness a significant upswing going forward.
“The MoU between our drug authorities will now increase access to Indian medicines in Vietnam. Exports of Indian agricultural, fisheries, and animal products to Vietnam are also set to become easier. Very soon, Vietnam will taste India’s grapes and pomegranates,” he said.
The two sides also agreed to update the India-ASEAN trade agreement by the end of this year.
“This will provide a new impetus to trade and investment between India and all ASEAN countries. New initiatives in critical minerals, rare earths, and energy cooperation will ensure the economic security and supply chain resilience of both countries,” Modi said.
“To boost financial connectivity, we have today decided to enhance cooperation between our central banks. India’s UPI and Vietnam’s fast payment systems will soon be linked. Furthermore, we are strengthening state-to-state and city-to-city cooperation between the two countries,” he noted.
Modi said India is grateful to Vietnam for its strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and standing with India in its fight against terrorism.
“In this era of global turmoil and economic challenges, thanks to their talent, good governance, and economic reforms, India and Vietnam are emerging as the world’s fastest-growing economies,” he said.
“Now, through our enhanced strategic partnership, we will support each other’s rapid growth. As the Buddha’s teachings say, ‘If you light a lamp for someone else, it also illuminates your own path’,” Modi said.
He also described Vietnam a a key pillar of India’s Act East Policy and Vision Ocean.
“In the Indo-Pacific region as well, we share a common outlook. Through our strengthening defence and security cooperation, we will continue to contribute to the rule-of-law, peace, stability, and prosperity,” he said.
The prime minister said India will broaden its relations with ASEAN with Vietnam’s cooperation.
In his remarks, Lam said both sides agreed to deepen political trust and elevate security cooperation.
“Ties elevated on the basis of shared vision, strategic convergence and substantive cooperation. The two sides agreed to deepen political trust, step up high level engagement and increase effectiveness of existing cooperation mechanisms,” he said.
“India has been soaring ahead as a centre of growth and innovation in the world,” he said, adding “we would link together our strategic visions and development strategies to better address the turmoil in the situation of the world today.” “We will elevate defence and security cooperation to become a strategic pillar to contribute to strengthening an environment of peace and stability,” he said.
India invited Vietnam to attend the BRICS Summit in September and the Southeast Asian country accepted the invitation, officials said.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
