NEW DELHI: India and Vietnam continue to work on the basis of "remarkable convergences" and "deep mutual trust" to develop an even stronger cooperative agenda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Wednesday after meeting Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi.
The defence minister also met Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with a focus on realising the full potential of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
"Delighted to call on the President of Vietnam, H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi today. India and Vietnam continue to work on the basis of remarkable convergences and deep mutual trust to develop an even stronger cooperative agenda," he tweeted.
Singh arrived in Hanoi on Tuesday on a three-day visit to explore ways to further deepen defence ties between the two countries. "I thank Vietnam's Prime Minister, H.E. Pham Minh Chinh for receiving me in Hanoi. We had warm & rich discussions on realising the full potential of India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. Deeply appreciate his positive approach & focus towards deepening bilateral relations," he tweeted.
India and Vietnam on Wednesday signed a vision document to further broad-base the "scope and scale" of defence ties by 2030 and sealed a logistics support pact to allow their militaries of the two sides to use each other's bases for repair and replenishment of supplies.
The documents were signed after Singh and his Vietnamese counterpart General Phan Van Giang held "fruitful".
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual logistics support is the first such major agreement that Vietnam has signed with any country. The defence ministry said India and Vietnam continue to have the "most trustworthy relations in contemporary times with broader convergence of interests and common concerns".
"In these times of increasing cooperative engagements between the defence forces of the two countries, this (logistics pact) is a major step towards simplifying procedures for mutually beneficial logistic support and is the first such major agreement which Vietnam has signed with any country," the ministry said in a statement.
The two defence ministers signed the 'Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030' that provides for expansion of defence and military ties in diverse areas, officials said.
Vietnam, an important country of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), has territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea region.
India has oil exploration projects in the Vietnamese waters in the South China Sea. India and Vietnam are boosting their maritime security cooperation in the last few years to protect common interests.