India, Vietnam to Reinforce Co-Operation in Atomic Energy, Security and Defence

India and Vietnam settled to further reinforce cooperation in defence and security, peaceful uses of atomic energy and outer space, oil and gas and renewable energy as Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Sunday finished his four-day visit to the Southeast Asian country. During his visit, Vice President Naidu held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Chairperson of the National Assembly Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

"Vice President's talks with his Vietnamese interlocutors were extensive and productive and covered whole range of bilateral and multilateral cooperation," said a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Both sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in defence and security, peaceful uses of atomic energy and outer space, oil and gas, renewable energy, agriculture and innovation-based sectors, it said.

Vietnam is an important trade partner of India and their bilateral trade stood at nearly USD 14 billion last year having nearly doubled from USD 7.8 billion three years ago.

Both sides reiterated the importance of building a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region on the basis of respect for national sovereignty and international law, and expressed full commitment to an open, transparent, inclusive and rules-based regional architecture based on freedom of navigation and overflight, unimpeded economic activities and peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law, the statement said.

Vietnam's leaders appreciated India's long-standing development partnership engagement, especially scholarships and training programmes. They also thanked India for extending concessional Lines of Credit for defence industry cooperation and implementing other socio-cultural infrastructure projects in Vietnam under Indian grants-in-aid.

"Vice President Naidu's visit has imparted momentum to the bilateral relationship and provided an opportunity to review various areas of collaboration and cooperation of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with Vietnam's leadership," the statement said.