Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang held restricted and bilateral talks for over two hours.
Amid China's aggressive posturing in the Asiatic region, India and Vietnam on Saturday inked three pacts, including one on nuclear cooperation, and resolved to jointly work for an open Indo-Pacific, while calling for a rules-based regional architecture. Vietnam and several other countries, including Brunei and the Philippines, are involved in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, seen as a potentially explosive issue in East Asia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang held restricted and bilateral talks for over two hours. Both the leaders vowed to expand bilateral cooperation in several key sectors, including defence, oil and gas, and agriculture.
"We will work for an open, independent and prosperous Indo Pacific region where sovereignty and international laws are respected and where differences are resolved through talks," Modi said. "Both sides are committed towards expanding the bilateral maritime cooperation and for an open, efficient and rules-based regional architecture," he said.
On defence cooperation, the Prime Minister said both sides decided to collaborate in defence production and explore opportunities in transfer of technology. During the talks, Modi said India and Vietnam have also "agreed" to deepen trade and investment ties in sectors such as oil and gas exploration, renewable energy, agriculture and textiles. Both India and Vietnam have strongly supported the need for rule of law and freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, as outlined in the United Nation Convention of the Law on the Sea (UNCLOS). Vietnam has been favouring greater participation of Indian companies in oil and gas exploration projects in South China Sea, a huge source of hydrocarbons, and promised to extend full security to them. China and Vietnam have an acrimonious relationship due to their standoff over South China Sea. China has been objecting to India's oil exploration projects in the disputed waters.
The MoU signed on Cooperation between the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, India (GCNEP) and the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VINATOM) is aimed to strengthen the technical cooperation in the field of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.
Both countries also signed a work plan for the years 2018-2022 between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam. "The purpose of this Work Plan is to promote cooperation in the transfer of technology and exchange of visits of technical experts in the fields of agriculture and allied," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
Hailing the trade ties between both countries, the Prime Minister said, "In the last five years, our bilateral trade has increased from six billion USD to more than 10 billion USD."
He further said that both countries are also working along with other nations on trilateral possibilities, in the oil and gas sector. "Vietnam has an important place in India's framework of Act East policy and India's relations with ASEAN," he said.(ends)
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