EAM Jaishankar, Vietnam FM Le Hoai Trung Hold Talks To Deepen Ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Vietnam’s Foreign Affairs Minister Le Hoai Trung held talks in New Delhi on Monday as the two countries sought to translate their upgraded strategic partnership into concrete outcomes across their bilateral relationship.

The meeting marked the 19th session of the India-Vietnam Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation. Welcoming Trung, Jaishankar said bilateral ties had “progressed significantly” since the previous Joint Commission meeting, held in October 2023.

Jaishankar also highlighted the elevation of India-Vietnam relations to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during Vietnamese General Secretary and President To Lam’s state visit to India in May. He noted that Vietnam was the first country in the region with which India had bilateral ties at that level.

“This 19th JCM, therefore, offers us a very valuable opportunity to review the implementation of the commitments which have been made and to translate the political momentum at the highest level into concrete, tangible outcomes for our people,” Jaishankar said.

Trade And Technology

The Joint Commission is an established mechanism for reviewing cooperation in trade, economic affairs, science and technology between India and Vietnam.

Jaishankar said the latest meeting would focus on implementing commitments already made by the two countries’ leaders rather than simply reviewing the relationship at a political level.

India and Vietnam have steadily expanded their economic engagement. MEA data recorded bilateral trade at $14.82 billion in the 2023–24 financial year, with Indian exports to Vietnam at $5.47 billion and Vietnamese exports to India at $9.35 billion.

The relationship also includes cooperation in sectors such as information technology, agriculture, health, space and development partnerships.

Defence And Strategic Ties

Defence and security remain an important pillar of the relationship.

India and Vietnam signed a Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030 and a memorandum on mutual logistics support during Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Vietnam in 2022. Defence cooperation has also expanded through military exchanges, training, exercises and cooperation in UN peacekeeping.

Jaishankar's comments placed the defence relationship within a wider strategic framework that now includes economic, technological and regional cooperation.

Indo-Pacific Partnership

Jaishankar described Vietnam as a key partner in India’s Act East Policy, its MAHASAGAR vision and its broader Indo-Pacific outlook.

He also underlined Hanoi’s importance to India’s engagement with ASEAN, describing Vietnam as an important partner in the implementation of India’s Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the bloc.

Trung, in his opening remarks, said Vietnam and India shared strong interests in maintaining “peace, stability, strategic autonomy, and an open and inclusive regional architecture” amid a more complex international environment.

The remarks underline the strategic convergence between the two countries on regional stability and an open Indo-Pacific.

Vietnam Welcomes BRICS Summit

Trung also congratulated India on the outcome of the recent BRICS Summit, describing the summit declaration as substantive and important at the current juncture.

He said BRICS had demonstrated further potential to contribute to the common goals of the international community and credited India’s efforts for what he described as a successful outcome.

Trung also referred to the summit’s discussions on peace, security and development, saying the meeting had produced important initiatives and a substantive declaration.

A New Phase Of Ties

The talks come after a period of intensified high-level engagement between India and Vietnam.

The two countries' relationship was elevated to an Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during To Lam’s May visit, building on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established in 2016. The two sides have also continued work on political, economic, defence, technology and development cooperation.

Trung said both countries were entering important stages of their long-term development, with Vietnam working towards its 2045 vision and India towards its 2047 goals.

The 19th Joint Commission therefore comes at a point when New Delhi and Hanoi are seeking to turn the political momentum behind their upgraded partnership into practical cooperation across trade, technology, defence and regional affairs.