During Rajnath’s visit, India, Vietnam review defence partnership, discuss further cooperation in maritime security
India and Vietnam on Tuesday stressed the importance of maintaining peace, stability and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region and resolved to work closely in line with their “enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership”.Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met his Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Giang as part of his visit to Hanoi. “Both ministers reviewed the growing defense partnership between the two countries and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in maritime security, defense industry, training and regional stability,” the defense ministry said.“The two sides discussed ways to expand cooperation in various fields, including military training, defense industry cooperation, maritime security, capacity building, UN peacekeeping, cyber security and high-level exchanges,” the ministry said.After the talks, India and Vietnam signed an agreement for cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence and quantum technology. The defense minister’s visit to Hanoi comes days after India and Vietnam upgraded their relationship to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership.The two Defense Ministers virtually inaugurated a language lab at the Air Force Officers College in Vietnam. This lab has been set up with Indian assistance. Rajnath also announced the decision to set up an AI lab at the University of Telecommunications in Nha Trang.Rajnath posted on X, “It is my honor to welcome the General Secretary and President of Vietnam on this visit to Vietnam. I extended warm greetings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and reiterated India’s commitment to deepen defense cooperation, a key pillar of the enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries, a developed comprehensive strategic partner country.”Later, Rajnath left for Seoul on the second leg of his two-nation tour. Both India and South Korea are seeking to deepen strategic military cooperation and expand the scope of bilateral engagement.
