NSA Doval meets Vietnam leadership to strengthen strategic, defence ties

Doval and Vietnam’s deputy prime minister and defence minister Gen Phan Van Giang reviewed bilateral defence cooperation

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.

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.

The readout quoted Doval as saying that he highly valued the relations between Vietnam and India, and emphasising that “cooperation with trustworthy partners in a fast-changing world is becoming increasingly important for national development and autonomy”.

Doval expressed satisfaction at the advancement of India-Vietnam relations, in which defence cooperation has emerged as an important pillar. Phan noted that Doval’s visit is of significant importance as it comes after the two sides enhanced their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership in the spirit of “shared vision, strategic convergence, substantive cooperation”.

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.

Defence has emerged as a key area of cooperation between India and Vietnam, largely because of shared concerns over China’s increasing assertiveness, especially in the South China Sea, where Indian and Vietnamese firms are engaged in oil exploration. Vietnam is the third Southeast Asian country, alongside the Philippines and Indonesia, that is set to acquire the BrahMos cruise missile system from India.

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.

Doval also held delegation-level talks with Gen Luong Tam Quang, Vietnam’s minister of public security, and discussed cooperation in the security domain. Both sides agreed to enhance the existing multifaceted ties, and also discussed regional and global developments, the India embassy said.

He also met Vietnam’s foreign minister Le Hoai Trung and discussed ways to commemorate the 55th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2027.

Doval, who arrived in Vietnam on Sunday, visited the historic Quan Su Pagoda in Hanoi, reflecting the Buddhist heritage of both countries. He was received by Thich Thanh Nhieu, the chief abbot of the pagoda, and Thich Duc Thien, the secretary general of the National Viet Nam Buddhist Sangha (VBS).

Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More