During Rajnath's visit, India, Vietnam review defence partnership, discuss further cooperation in maritime security
The Defence Ministers of India and Vietnam held bilateral talks in Hanoi, reviewing the full scope of their defence cooperation and charting further collabor...
What Happened
- The Defence Ministers of India and Vietnam held bilateral talks in Hanoi, reviewing the full scope of their defence cooperation and charting further collaboration in maritime security.
- Both sides assessed progress under the Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership framework, which was formalised in 2024 and upgraded from the decade-old Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
- Discussions covered maritime domain awareness, defence industry collaboration, military training exchanges, and joint efforts to maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
- The visit coincided with the 136th birth anniversary of Vietnam's founding leader, with the visiting delegation paying homage at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, signalling the civilisational depth of ties.
- India's defence minister also proceeded to South Korea, making the tour a broader Indo-Pacific outreach covering two strategically significant partners.
Static Topic Bridges
Act East Policy and India's Indo-Pacific Engagement
India's Act East Policy, formalised in 2014, represents a strategic pivot from the earlier Look East Policy (announced 1991) to translate engagement with Southeast and East Asian nations from rhetoric into substantive economic and security partnerships. Vietnam is a central pillar of this framework given shared interests in maritime security, trade connectivity, and counterbalancing assertive unilateralism in the South China Sea.
- Look East Policy launched in 1991; upgraded to Act East Policy in November 2014.
- India is a signatory to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) since 2003.
- India-Vietnam relations were elevated to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016 and then to Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2024.
- Bilateral trade stood at approximately USD 16.46 billion in 2025; leaders have set a new target of USD 25 billion by 2030.
Connection to this news: The defence minister's visit operationalises Act East Policy by deepening security-layer ties with Vietnam, reinforcing India as a credible regional partner for maritime security.
UNCLOS and Freedom of Navigation in the Indo-Pacific
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adopted in 1982 and entering into force in 1994, is the primary international legal framework governing maritime rights, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelves, and freedom of navigation. India and Vietnam both have overlapping interests in ensuring that UNCLOS norms are upheld in the South China Sea and the wider Indo-Pacific.
- UNCLOS defines the EEZ as extending 200 nautical miles from a coastal state's baseline, within which it has sovereign resource rights.
- India has consistently called for freedom of navigation and overflight and peaceful dispute resolution under UNCLOS.
- The 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal ruling (Philippines v. China) reaffirmed UNCLOS primacy; China rejected the ruling.
- India's SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision, launched 2015 and evolved into MAHASAGAR in 2025, is anchored in rules-based maritime order.
Connection to this news: Maritime security cooperation between India and Vietnam is fundamentally grounded in shared commitment to UNCLOS-based norms and freedom of navigation in contested waters.
India's Defence Diplomacy and Defence Industrial Cooperation
India's defence diplomacy framework, underpinned by the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP 2020) and the Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP 2020), seeks to position India as a net security provider while growing its defence exports. Vietnam is among the priority partners for India's defence technology transfers.
- India's defence export target is USD 5 billion by 2025; actual exports reached approximately USD 2.63 billion in FY2023-24.
- India has extended a USD 500 million Line of Credit to Vietnam for defence procurement.
- India supplied Akash surface-to-air missile systems and BrahMos-class missiles for export discussions form part of regional defence industrial outreach.
- The iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) framework is expanding to cover bilateral innovation collaboration.
Connection to this news: The review of defence partnership in Hanoi signals progress on joint production, technology transfers, and interoperability that underpin the bilateral strategic relationship.
Key Facts & Data
- India-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership established: 2016.
- Upgraded to Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership: 2024.
- Bilateral trade in 2025: approximately USD 16.46 billion; target USD 25 billion by 2030.
- India's Line of Credit to Vietnam for defence procurement: USD 500 million.
- India's defence export target: USD 5 billion by 2025 (DPEPP 2020).
- UNCLOS entered into force: 16 November 1994.
- Act East Policy formalised: November 2014 (replacing Look East Policy of 1991).
- SAGAR doctrine announced: March 2015; evolved to MAHASAGAR vision: 2025.