India and Vietnam share warm and friendly relations based on mutual trust, goodwill, and strategic convergence on several global and regional issues

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held discussions with his Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich on Friday. The virtual meet was centered on further increasing bilateral cooperation between the two sides.

“Had a fruitful interaction with my Vietnamese counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich during a virtual bilateral meeting. We discussed ways to further the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership & friendship between both the countries. Our defence cooperation have expanded considerably,” Singh said in a tweet.



During the meeting, India and Vietnam signed an Implementation agreement on Hydrography.

“An Implementation Agreement (IA) on Hydrography was signed between India and Vietnam in the presence of Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh and his counterpart General Ngo Xuan Lich during a virtual bilateral meeting today,” the official handle of the Defence Minister Office said in a tweet.



India and Vietnam share warm and friendly relations based on mutual trust, goodwill, and strategic convergence on several global and regional issues. Both sides share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, from political engagement to economic and development partnership, defense and security cooperation, energy cooperation, cultural exchanges, and people-to-people contacts.

In fact, the year 2020 marks the 42nd anniversary of the bilateral trade between both sides.

Reaffirming India-Vietnam bilateral ties in business, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs Riva Ganguly Das had earlier said that India is the 7th largest trading partner of Vietnam and the trade relationship between both sides have grown from a meager bilateral figure of US$ 200 million in the year 2000 to US$ 12.34 billion in FY 2019-20.

India has about 278 projects in Vietnam with a total invested capital of US$ 887 million, and primarily, the investments are in the areas of pharmaceuticals, IT, chemicals, and construction materials.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, both sides have continued to maintain high-level engagements. Vietnamese Vice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh visited India in February this year.

Earlier in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc spoke on the telephone not only to exchange views on the COVID-19 situation but also to discuss the future trajectory of our bilateral relations.