New Delhi, Sept 14: India and Vietnam agreed on Monday to boost their defence ties through joint production of military hardware and decided to expand bilateral trade by building stronger supply chains and widening market access.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Vietnamese counterpart Le Hoai Trung explored ways to further bolster the bilateral ties in a range of key areas during the 19th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation.
The two sides have also decided to expand cooperation in areas of air connectivity, nuclear energy and space.
“In a productive and outcome oriented discussion, the two ministers reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations under the India-Vietnam Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
It said the two ministers identified the “way forward” on deepening ongoing defence and security collaboration, including through co-production of Indian defence items, expanding trade, investments and mutually beneficial supply chains and extending market access for Indian marine and agricultural products and pharmaceuticals.
The MEA said other areas identified for deeper cooperation included port and air connectivity; nuclear energy and space sector; heritage conservation; cooperation in standards for seafarers; capacity building, and people-to-people ties.
“The two sides exchanged views on regional and global developments of mutual interest and reaffirmed their commitment to closer cooperation and coordination in regional and multilateral fora,” it said in a statement.
In his opening address at the meeting, Jaishankar said Vietnam is a key partner in India’s Act East Policy, vision MAHASAGAR as well as in its outlook of the Indo-Pacific.
“Vietnam is equally an important partner in the framework of our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the ASEAN,” he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the vision MAHASAGAR or ‘Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions’ for India’s engagement with the Global South during his visit to Mauritius in March last year.
In May, India and Vietnam elevated their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership and set a USD 25 billion annual trade target by 2030.
Last year, the two sides inked a pact to set up a framework for submarine search, rescue and support mechanism. They also signed a letter of intent (LoI) to strengthen bilateral defence industry collaboration.
In their talks, the two sides are understood to have deliberated on the prevailing situation in West Asia and South China Sea, a region that has witnessed increasing Chinese military muscle-flexing.
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.
India and many other democratic countries have been pressing for peaceful settlement of the disputes and for adherence to international law, especially the UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea). (PTI)
