The 14th India-Vietnam Defence Policy Dialogue took place in New Delhi on Thursday when the two sides reviewed a range of bilateral defence cooperation issues.

It was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Deputy Minister of National Defence of Vietnam Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien.

"During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the range of bilateral defence cooperation issues and noted the transformative progress in the ties after the signing of ‘Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030’ in June 2022 during the visit of Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh to Vietnam," read an official statement.

Vietnam proposed five focus areas for cooperation which included delegation exchanges and dialogue, staff-talks; Service-to-Service cooperation; Education and training; and Defence Industry cooperation. The Defence Secretary welcomed the five point proposal and proposed cooperation in emerging areas of concern for both countries like Cyber Security, Information Security, Military Medicine, Submarine Search & Rescue.

The Defence Secretary highlighted the potential of domestic defence industry to fulfill capacity and capability enhancement of Friendly Foreign Countries, and looked forward to fruitful partnership with Vietnam People’s Armed Forces, and their industries.

After the meeting, the Defence Secretary and the Deputy Minister of National Defence of Vietnam signed a Letter of Intent to strengthen cooperation in the field of training including exchange of instructors and experts.

Defence cooperation is one of the strong pillars of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Vietnam. Vietnam is an important partner in India’s Act East Policy and in the Indo-Pacific Region.