New Delhi: Vietnamese President To Lam’s visit to New Delhi demonstrates the Southeast Asian nation’s strong commitment to strengthen ties with India, elevating the relationship to a higher level that is more effective, robust and substantive, a report detailed on Wednesday.
President To Lam is on a State Visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This visit holds significance as 2026 marks the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between two nations, a landmark in the history of bilateral relations. This is President To Lam’s second overseas visit after the National Assembly approved key state leadership appointments.
“In recent years, India has emerged as a notable success story in regional economic development, while steadily enhancing its international standing through a balanced and independent foreign policy. These factors have enabled the South Asian country to remain resilient and sustain strong growth amid an increasingly volatile and contested global environment,” reported Nhan Dan newspaper, the central organ of Communist Party of Vietnam.
A flexible diplomatic policy has remained an important factor in India achieving significant achievements on its development path. India’s role and position in the region and the world is increasing. India is following a multi-alignment foreign policy, sharing good and balanced ties with other countries.
“The South Asian nation is striving to affirm its role as a ‘leader of the Global South’, step up its ‘Act East’ policy, continue strengthening its comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN, and commit to working with ASEAN to build a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, in line with ASEAN’s central role in the region,” the report mentioned.
India and Vietnam have a traditional friendship and longstanding close ties. Buddhist links demonstrate the depth of historical, cultural, and religious exchanges and connections between India and Vietnam. India has offered support to Vietnam in its struggle for national liberation and in national construction and development, as per the report.
In 2003, both sides signed the Joint Declaration on the Comprehensive Cooperation Framework. In 2007, the two countries upgraded the relations to a strategic partnership while ties were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016. In 2020, India and Vietnam adopted the joint vision statement on peace prosperity and people. In 2024, the two countries adopted a joint declaration on strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Vietnam.
“Bilateral relations between the two countries across Party, State, National Assembly, and people-to-people channels have continued to expand and deepen. The two sides have actively promoted high-level visits. They maintain effective cooperation mechanisms such as the Viet Nam-India Joint Commission at the ministerial level of foreign affairs, the Viet Nam-India Joint Sub-Commission on Trade, political consultations and strategic dialogue, security dialogue, defence policy dialogue, foreign policy dialogue, and maritime security dialogue, among others,” a report detailed.
Cooperation between two nations has expanded into information technology and digital services, with India having supported the establishment of IT centres in Vietnam. Indian investors have invested in 15 economic sectors of Vietnam, with capital primarily concentrated in electricity production, processing industry and manufacturing and distribution as well as mining, Nhan Dan report detailed.
Defence and security cooperation is an important and strategic pillar of India-Vietnam ties. The defence ministries of two nations are making efforts for the implementation of defence credit packages and non-refundable aid provided by the Indian government to Vietnam.
India has offered support to Vietnam in training, transferring used submarines, and defence equipment. Tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between two nations have been strengthened. India is supporting Vietnam in the restoration of the Cham tower groups at the My Son heritage site.
(IANS)
