Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is paying a 3-day visit to India from July 30 to August 1 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi . He will meet PM Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu, and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
This visit is the first by a Vietnamese or Indian PM to each other’s countries since the two sides established the comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016. PM Chinh is also one of the first Southeast Asia foreign leaders to pay a visit to India since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s re-election for a third term.
India and Vietnam have age-old historical and civilizational ties, which were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the visit of the India prime minister to Vietnam in September 2016.
the Vietnam – India comprehensive strategic partnership has been growing vigorously on the basis of the solid relations and high political trust. Connections between their Parties, States, parliaments, and people have been expanded, with visits and meetings at all levels and on all channels organised frequently. Cooperation and dialogue mechanisms, as well as specialised cooperation sub-committees, have been maintained and proved effective. Defence-security cooperation, a key pillar in bilateral relations, has seen significant progress. The two countries signed a joint vision statement on defence partnership and a memorandum of understanding on mutual logistics support in June 2022. They have also worked together in personnel training, the defence industry, sending of naval ships to visit each other, and provision of credit and non-refundable aid packages. Bilateral trade increased 2.5-fold since the upgrade of the bilateral ties to the comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016 to nearly US$15 billion in 2023. Large enterprises of India are boosting collaboration with Vietnam in such strategic areas as renewable energy, processing industry, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, seaport infrastructure, and logistics. Auto maker VinFast of Vietnam also started work on an automobile plant worth $2 billion in Tamil Nadu state. Notably, there are now about 60 direct flights per week between the two countries. India is among the three countries posting the fastest growth in the number of tourists to Vietnam, with its visitors rising 2.5-fold from 170,000 in 2019 to 400,000 last year. For the last 10 years, it has provided nearly 3,000 short- and long-term scholarships for Vietnam under different programmes. Its government has also supported a project on restoring monuments at the My Son Sanctuary, a world heritage site in Quang Nam Province.
The Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit is of great significance as it aims to affirm Vietnam’s consistent policy of treasuring the traditional friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership with India and help strengthen relations between leaders of the two countries, especially between the two PMs. It looks to consolidate the traditional cooperation areas and expand ties to the fields matching the two sides’ potential and strengths such as electronics, telecommunications, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, renewable energy, green economy, digital economy, AI, semiconductor, new material, and essential minerals.
the visit is also a chance for the two countries to increase exchanging views on regional and international security and strategic issues and affirm their mutual support at multilateral forums of shared interest. The visit also offers an opportunity for Vietnam and India to enhance their collaboration and support each other on regional and international issues, as well as at multilateral forums, while boosting ASEAN-India strategic ties and contributing to the maintenance and promotion of peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and beyond.
The bilateral relations between Vietnam – India have been developing comprehensively in almost all areas, and now hold much potential and opportunities to grow further in the time ahead. India is emerging as a significant global player, expected to become the world’s third largest economy in the coming years, while Vietnam’s potential and international standing are on the rise. With this visit, two country they are presented with vast opportunities to realise their immense bilateral cooperation potential across various fields.