India, Vietnam to boost defence cooperation, procurement of systems

PM Narendra Modi and Vietnam President To Lam reaffirmed defence as a key pillar of their strategic partnership. The leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation across all areas, including defence systems procurement, to enhance regional stability.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Vietnam, To Lam, reaffirmed that defence and security cooperation is a key pillar of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two nations. India and Vietnam agreed to further strengthen cooperation and enhance engagements in both traditional and emerging areas of defence cooperation and decided to enhance defence systems procurement between the two countries.

Deepening Areas of Defence Cooperation

According to the joint statement, defence cooperation would be strengthened across areas including defence policy dialogue, joint exercises, staff talks, joint research and co-production of new defence technologies, enhanced port calls by Naval vessels and Air force aircrafts, peacekeeping activities, information sharing, hydrography, defence exhibitions, capacity building, defence industrial cooperation, maritime security, maritime safety, and search and rescue operations based on mutual interest and priorities of the two countries, which will also contribute to greater stability in the wider Indo-Pacific region.

Progress on Key Initiatives

The leaders welcomed the steady progress in the implementation of the Defence Lines of Credit extended by India for Vietnam, which have contributed to strengthening Vietnam's defence capabilities and advancing bilateral defence cooperation.

The statement noted that the leaders expressed satisfaction with the implementation of the bilateral defence agreements, including the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement, the Memorandum of Agreement on Submarine Search and Rescue Support and Cooperation, and the Letter of Intent on Strengthening Defence Industrial Cooperation. They also welcomed the inaugural joint hydrographic survey by the two navies in May 2025 off the coast of Vietnam and agreed to regularly conduct similar exercises in the future.

Vietnam appreciated the training offered by India for Vietnamese defence personnel under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, through Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force Training Teams at the Telecommunications University (TCU), Naval Academy, Air Force College, Nha Trang, towards capacity building; India's support for the establishment of the Army Software Park at TCU, Nha Trang.

Expanding Cooperation into New Domains

The leaders welcomed that the two countries would co-chair the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus Experts' Working Group (ADMM-Plus EWG) on Cyber Security for the 2027 - 2030 cycle.

The statement noted that the leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in the legal and judicial fields between the two countries through the effective implementation of the MoU between the Ministry of Law and Justice of India and the Ministry of Justice of Viet Nam.

Cybersecurity and Law Enforcement

Both sides agreed to deepen cooperation between the Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam and the National Security Council Secretariat of India to realise shared objectives. They further agreed to broaden collaboration in the fields of information sharing, cybersecurity, counterterrorism and combating high-tech crime, transnational crime, money laundering and online scams. In addition, both sides underscored the importance of effectively utilising existing cooperation mechanisms, including the India-Vietnam Security Dialogue.

The leaders welcomed the successful convening of the First India - Viet Nam Cyber Policy Dialogue, during which both sides exchanged views on recent developments in cyber policies, reviewed the cyber threat landscape, identified areas of bilateral cooperation, and discussed joint capacity building activities and cooperation at multilateral fora on ICT issues.

The two sides agreed to enhance the exchange of experience and expand cooperation in the security domain, including promoting cooperation in training and capacity building for law enforcement officers, support for professional training, foreign language training, cybersecurity incident response skills, UN Peacekeeping, and other cooperation activities as mutually agreed.

Guided by Joint Vision Statement 2030

As per the joint statement by the Ministry of External Affairs, it was noted that the leaders commended the effective implementation of the Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030, which continues to guide the growing defence ties between the two countries. (ANI)

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