India, Vietnam agree to boost economic, defence ties further

NEW DELHI: The Indo-Pacific featured prominently in discussions between India and Vietnam on Tuesday, as both countries reconnected at a high level with a virtual joint commission meeting.
During the virtual meeting, co-chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh, the two sides agreed to add new momentum to their economic and defence engagement and to explore closer cooperation in emerging areas such as civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies, according to an MEA statement.
“Despite Covid-19 related disruptions, close engagement on many fronts has moved on. Development partnership is an important part of this. We agreed to do some water resources projects in Mekong delta region of Vietnam,” sources said.
India and Vietnam are also exploring cooperation based on convergences between India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and the Asean Outlook on Indo-Pacific, “in bilateral and regional context.”
A readout by the MEA after the meeting said, “He (Jaishankar) invited Vietnam to take advantage of India’s new economic capacities and demands.”
With India and Vietnam together serving on the UNSC, both sides agreed to coordinate closely at multilateral forums, the MEA spokesperson said, “They also agreed to step up cooperation and coordination at important regional forums under the Asean framework. EAM expressed India’s full support to Vietnam’s chairmanship of Asean this year”.