India-Vietnam

• 17th meeting of bilateral Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation
• Economic and defence engagement: To explore closer cooperation in civil nuclear energy, space, marine sciences and new technologies.India had earlier announced a LoC of US$500 million for procurement of defence equipment from India.
• Vietnam is negotiating with India for both BrahMos and Akash missiles. 
• Cooperation at Multilateral and Regional forums including at the UNSC where both are elected to be non-permanent members in 2021, based on their strong convergence of views on many global and regional issues. 
• Both agreed to step up cooperation and coordination at important regional forums under the ASEAN framework. 
• Vietnam has supported India's bid to become a permanent member of the UNSC and APEC.
• Both agreed to enhance their bilateral cooperation in line with India's Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) and the ASEAN's Outlook on Indo-Pacific to achieve shared security, prosperity and growth for all in the region.
• Evolution of India-Vietnam relationship 
• The strong ties between the two, date as far back as to the cold war days of the 1950s. 
• India supported Vietnam's independence from France, objected to the US involvement in Vietnam in the 1960s and was one of the 1st countries to recognise a united Vietnam in 1975 after the war with the US. 
• India initially maintained Consulate-level relations with the then North and South Vietnams and established full diplomatic relations with Vietnam in 1972.
• ‘Strategic Partnership’ in 2007 
• Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016. 
• Today, India sees Vietnam as a pivotal state in its "Act East" policy, the same way that China sees Pakistan as a strategic counter-balance to India.
• Importance of Vietnam for India 
• A critical partner in the Look & Act east Policy
• To contain China as Vietnam, due to its critical geostrategic location in the neighborhood of China holds the key to any future strategy to contain the hegemonic rise of China.
• India and Vietnam have built strategic partnerships, including extensive cooperation on developing nuclear power, enhancing regional security and fighting terrorism, transnational crime and drug trafficking. 
• For Energy Security as Vietnam has rich hydrocarbon reserves. Vietnam is also keen for India to expand its presence in oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea. 
• India is among the top 10 trading partners of Vietnam. Under the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) framework, India has been taking up Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) having short gestation period, bringing direct benefits to communities at the grassroots level.

• Challenges in India-Vietnam relations 
• South China Sea: Vietnam is involved in a territorial dispute with China over the South China Sea (SCS). India too is engaged in oil exploration activities in the areas of the Sea that Vietnam has claimed. However, Vietnam lauded India’s principled position on the disputed South China Sea and also sought India’s participation in the oil and gas sectors.
• Cultural gap between people from both countries. India is much closer to Thailand (Buddhism, Hinduism, Brahamical Rights) and Cambodia (Angkor Wat renovation) in comparison to Vietnam in the South-East Asia.
• Connectivity: The two countries are geographically far apart. This not only affects tourism but also impacts the import and export of goods and business exchanges. However, India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway will allow Indian goods to reach Southeast Asia
  with ease and vice versa. India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway could link up with already existing roads like the one linking Thailand with the Vietnamese port of Da Nang. 
• Industries: India has some problems related to land acquisition in Vietnam, which is hampering the pace with which manufacturing industries can set up their bases in Vietnam. 
• Way forward 
• India-Vietnam strategic partnership is key to maintaining peace and stability not only in SE Asia but in the entire Indo-Pacific region as the two countries share plethora of complementarities. Both the countries, by exploring different areas such as IT, agro-chemicals, agro-processing etc, can come more close to each other. 
• Strengthening ties with Vietnam will eventually lead a step towards the realization of SAGAR (Security and Growth all in the region) initiative and both can mutually benefit each other in the arena of Blue Economy and ocean security. Through SAGAR, India seeks to deepen economic and security cooperation with its maritime neighbours and assist in building their maritime security capabilities
• ASEAN's Outlook on Indo-Pacific
• ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific envisages ASEAN Centrality as the underlying principle for promoting cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, with ASEAN-led mechanisms, such as the East Asia Summit (EAS), as platforms for dialogue and implementation of the Indo– Pacific cooperation, while preserving their formats
• About Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) 
• It is an initiative launched by PM at the East Asia Summit in Thailand in November 2019. 
• The initiative is centred around 7-pillars including maritime security; 
1. maritime ecology; 
2. maritime resources; 
3. capacity building and resource sharing; 
4. disaster risk reduction and management; 
5. science, technology, and academic cooperation; and 
6. trade connectivity
7. maritime transport. 
• India has called on Vietnam to partner on one of the seven pillars of the IPOI