India and Vietnam reviewed cooperation under their bilateral strategic partnership, including trade and defence, as National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval met the top leadership of the Southeast Asian country in Hanoi on Monday.
Phan invited the Indian defence ministry and defence enterprises to display their products at the Vietnam International Defence Expo to be held in Hanoi in December. Doval also held delegation-level talks with Gen Luong Tam Quang, Vietnam’s minister of public security, and discussed cooperation in the security domain. The two sides elevated their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership during Vietnam President To Lam’s visit to India in May and set a target for boosting two-way trade from the current level of around $16 billion to $25 billion by 2030. He also met Vietnam’s foreign minister Le Hoai Trung and discussed ways to commemorate the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2027.
Doval and Vietnam’s deputy prime minister and defence minister Gen Phan Van Giang reviewed bilateral defence cooperation and agreed to further deepen engagements in the domain, the Indian Embassy said on social media. Phan suggested to Doval that India should continue supporting and advancing defence cooperation, “commensurate with its role as a key pillar of the enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries”, according to an official readout from the Vietnamese side. Both sides agreed to enhance the existing multifaceted ties, and also discussed regional and global developments, the India embassy said.
