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Deepening their mutual ties, India and Vietnam have agreed to boost their defence ties through joint production of military hardware and decided to expand bilateral trade by building stronger supply chains and widening market access for Indian marine and agricultural products and pharmaceuticals. During the 19th India-Vietnam Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Vietnamese counterpart Le Hoai Trung explored ways to further bolster the bilateral ties in a range of key areas. Both ministers reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral relations under the India-Vietnam Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also highlighted other areas identified by both parties for deeper cooperation. These areas include port and air connectivity, nuclear energy and space sector, heritage conservation, cooperation in standards for seafarers, capacity building, and people-to-people ties. Further, both sides exchanged perspectives on regional and global developments of mutual interest and reaffirmed their commitment to closer cooperation and coordination in regional and multilateral fora. Emphasizing the significance of India-Vietnam ties, S Jaishankar referred Vietnam as a key partner in India's Act East Policy, vision MAHASAGAR as well as in its outlook of the Indo-Pacific.

Besides, the two sides have deliberated on the prevailing situation in West Asia and South China Sea, a region that has witnessed increasing Chinese military muscle-flexing, during their discussions. Meanwhile, India and Vietnam had their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership and set a $25 billion annual trade target by 2030, in May this year. Further, the two sides had inked a pact to set up a framework for submarine search, rescue and support mechanism. They also signed a letter of intent (LoI) to strengthen bilateral defence industry collaboration.