By Ankit Panda
Vietnam’s defense minister is in India, with a maritime security-focused agenda.
Vietnamese Defense Minister Phùng Quang Thanh is in India for a three-day visit this week. On Monday, Thanh met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar. Thanh’s visit to India is intended to bolster strategic ties between India and Vietnam and comes at a time of rising tensions in the South China Sea–where Vietnam disputes the sovereignty of various islands and reefs with China. Additionally, the Indian government has framed its approach toward Vietnam in terms of its proactive “Act East” policy. Parallel to Thanh’s visit to New Delhi, Indian and Vietnamese senior diplomats held their seventh deputy ministerial-level political consultation in Hanoi.
According to a statement posted on the Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) website, “Gen. Thanh briefed Prime Minister Modi about defence and security related developments in the India-Vietnam bilateral relationship. Prime Minister Modi expressed satisfaction at the progress made in bilateral defence and security cooperation since the visit of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.” Thanh’s visit carries forward the bilateral India-Vietnam agenda that was established during Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s October 2014 visit to India. Thanh “thanked Prime Minister Modi for India’s strong and growing defence and security relationship with Vietnam, and for India’s support and assistance in this regard,” and Modi, for his part, assured Thanh of “India’s full commitment to the strategic partnership between the two countries.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat