External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. (File)

With an eye on China, India and Vietnam on Tuesday agreed to enhance their bilateral cooperation in line with India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the ASEAN’s Outlook on Indo-Pacific to achieve shared security, prosperity and growth for all in the region.

This was one of the key takeaways after the meeting of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh through video-conference.

“Concluded the 17th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Meeting. Thank Deputy PM and FM @FMPhamBinhMinh for co-chairing. Our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership keeps growing. Ensures peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” Jaishankar tweeted.

“During the meeting, both sides reviewed the recent developments in India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and discussed the future trajectory of their wide-ranging engagement. They agreed to add new momentum to the economic and defence engagement between the two countries and to explore closer cooperation in emerging areas such as civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies,” a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said on Tuesday.

They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest, especially in the context of the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic.

Jaishankar underlined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat for enhancing resilience through self-reliance and human-centric globalisation as the basis for India’s economic revival, the MEA statement said. He invited Vietnam to take advantage of India’s new economic capacities and demands.

He also reaffirmed India’s development and capacity building assistance to Vietnam through initiatives such as Quick Impact Projects (QIP), ITEC and e-ITEC initiatives, PhD fellowships, as well as projects in water resource management in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, SDGs, digital connectivity and heritage conservation.

As many as 12 QIPs for implementation in Vietnam have been approved by the Government of India, including seven QIPs in water resource management in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta Region and five QIPs related to construction of educational infrastructure in Vietnam.

An MoU for “Cooperation between Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS), New Delhi and Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Hanoi” and “MoU between National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi and Scientific Research Institute of Sea and Islands, Hanoi” were also signed on the margins of the Joint Commission Meeting.

Based on their strong convergence of views on many global and regional issues, both sides agreed to coordinate closely at multilateral forums, including at the UN Security Council, where both India and Vietnam will serve concurrently as non-permanent members in 2021, it said.

It said that they also agreed to step up cooperation and coordination at important regional forums under the ASEAN framework. Jaishankar expressed India’s full support to Vietnam’s chairmanship of ASEAN this year and appreciated the positive leadership provided by Vietnam to ASEAN in a year when the world is faced with the pandemic.